Islanders Warned as Black Ice Causes Early-Morning Chaos

Gef has poked his nose outside this morning and can confirm it’s a slippery start to Saturday across the Isle of Man.

Police issued an update around 8.30am warning that emergency services were receiving multiple reports of icy road conditions, including black ice on many of the island’s roads.

Drivers have been urged to take extra care and adjust their driving to suit the conditions.

The Department of Infrastructure (DoI) is out gritting, but the A18 Mountain Road remains closed after being shut around midnight due to dangerous black ice.

Bus Vannin has also warned of knock-on effects to services this morning.

With icy conditions causing delays, some buses may be running late, including the inbound 6c service.

As a result, the 9.07am number 5 service from Lord Street to Ramsey was expected to operate around 15 minutes late.

In short: it’s cold, it’s icy, and it’s not the morning for fancy driving.

The Met Office did warn that it was expected to be a ‘cold start with a touch of frost in prone places and the risk of patchy black ice’, but added that ‘otherwise it’s a fine and dry day with sunny intervals’.

The light and variable breeze will settle to the south later this afternoon before freshening this evening.

Top temperature 6°C. Then rain arriving overnight as the wind strengthens further.