A new 72-hour weather warning has been issued with wintry conditions set to continue across the island.

Ronaldsway Met Office had already issue a yellow warning – meaning ‘be prepared’ – for snow and ice which ended at noon on Friday but a new one has been issued immediately which runs from noon on Friday to noon on Monday.

Thew main issue is the low temperatures which are causing icy conditions on many island road while the airport runway had to close on Friday morning.

The Department of Infrastructure (DoI) has already taken the decision to close the Mountain Road until noon on Monday.

While snowfall will be largely confined to higher ground over the next couple of days, there could be wider spread snow on Sunday.

Forecaster Adrian Cowin said: ‘The air temperature will remain close to or below freezing above about 1000ft today (Friday), with ice and frost on any untreated surfaces.

‘Air temperatures at lower levels are between 3-6C, but falling to between 1 and -2C tonight, away from coastal areas exposed to the fresh to strong northerly wind.

‘Surface temperatures will fall to sub-zero this evening, leading to ice/black ice forming on any untreated damp or wet roads and pavements. The temperatures will recover, again, to about 4C on Saturday with another mostly dry and bright or sunny day in prospect.

‘There's still a risk of isolated wintry showers later today, tonight and tomorrow but these are most likely to be confined to clipping just the far south and southwest corners of the island.’

But Mr Cowin warns Sunday could see more wintry showers at lower levels.

He explained: ‘Wintry showers are expected to become more widespread and fairly frequent during Sunday, as fresh winds become northwesterly, with mostly slight accumulations of hail or snow possible at all levels.

‘The wintry showers become isolated by Sunday night as the wind swings northerly again but, under the clearer sky, temperatures will tumble to near freezing in many places to give ice on any untreated damp or wet surfaces. Temperatures will then slowly recover during Monday morning, and it should be mostly dry.’