The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has advised the public not to visit any country parks or forests due to weather warnings as a result of Storm Bert.
The Met Office has issued a major update for people across the UK as a new storm is set to strike, with a yellow weather warning in place for Northern Ireland across Saturday for rain and snow.
In a post on social media DAERA said: “In line with current @metofficeNI weather warning for high winds, we are advising the public not to visit affected forests, country parks & nature reserves on Sat 23 & Sun 24 Nov in affected areas until the high winds subside.”
Traffic Watch NI has also warned of travel delays and disruption due to the weather and warned some ferry, air and rail journeys may be delayed.
“A period of strong southeasterly winds is likely for a time on Saturday, with peak gusts of 50-60 mph in many parts of the warning area, but 60-70 mph in some coastal areas and also locally to the lee (northwest) of high ground, and perhaps in excess of 70 mph along some exposed coasts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland,” they said.
“Outbreaks of rain on Friday night and into Saturday morning may be preceded by a spell of snow for a time, especially on high ground in northern and western areas.
“Exactly where snow falls will depend quite heavily on both elevation and the intensity of precipitation, with any snow accumulations at low levels likely small and fairly short-lived.
“However, there is the chance of temporary accumulations of 5-10 cm on ground typically above 150m and perhaps as much as 10-20 cm over mountain tops.
“Any snow will quickly revert to rain on Saturday morning, with rain accumulations of 20-30 mm likely fairly widely, and perhaps as much as 40-60 mm on more exposed hills.
“This, in conjunction with a rapid thaw of any lying snow, may cause some surface water and river flooding.”
Salting of roads across Northern Ireland is also planned for Friday evening and for Saturday morning.
Road users are advised to exercise caution when travelling, particularly when driving on untreated roads.
Earlier today, Northern Ireland Water confirmed Silent Valley will be closed on both Saturday and Sunday and is scheduled to reopen on Monday due to the weather.
Police have also warned drivers commuting to “drive to suit conditions” as a new warning is set to come into place due to the storm on Saturday.
Translink have warned rural service routes such as Ballyclare, Larne, Cookstown, Ballymena and Magherafelt have all been impacted.
Services from Belfast, Newcastle and Omagh did not run on this morning.
The Met Office noted a risk of flooding power outages and delays as heavy rain, snow strong winds are expected ahead of further challenging conditions.