Heavy snow has forced the government to shut the A18 Mountain Road.

The route was closed overnight after conditions became ‘extremely poor’.

Police issued a statement on the closure during the early hours of Friday morning, saying the adverse weather posed a serious road safety issue.

Staff from the Department of Infrastructure (DoI) have shut the road until 4.30pm but will review the closure throughout the day.

The alert, issued by the Met Office at Ronaldsway, came into force at 6pm last night and elapsed at 9am this morning (Friday).