Glenshane Pass re-opens after motorists rescued
The Glenshane Road near Claudy on Wednesday morning
The Glenshane Pass, which was closed after 300 people were trapped in heavy snow on Tuesday night, has re-opened.
Motorists had to abandon their vehicles and among those rescued were a group of schoolchildren.
They were taken to Dungiven Leisure Centre and then to Limavady and Maghera after a power cut. Thousands of homes remain without electricity across NI.
Colin Brown from Roads Service said the road had to be closed to allow police to remove the abandoned vehicles.
Jackie O'Hagan, who was one of those rescued, described the experience as being akin to "armageddon".
"The efforts from the mountain rescue teams, the police and people have been great," she added.
Joe Murphy said he was rescued from his car after seven-and-a-half hours.
"It was pretty horrific, the worst I've seen in my 40 years of driving around the country.
"At one stage the drifts were reaching up to the windows of the car," he said.
Schools closed
St Brigid's Primary School, Tirkane, Maghera
St Columcille's Primary School, Carrickmore, Co Tyrone
Donaghey Primary School, Co Tyrone
Dunmullan Primary School, Omagh
Kilronan Special School, Magherafelt
Little Flower Nursery School, Clonoe, Co Tyrone
St Finlough's Primary School, Glack, Ballykelly
St Joseph's Primary School, Galbally, Dungannon
St Mary's Primary School, Altinure, Dungiven
St Mary's Primary School, Park
St Mary's Primary School, Pomeroy
St Patrick's Primary School, The Loup, Magherafelt
St Patrick's College, Dungiven
Spires Integrated Primary School, Magherafelt
Martin McMullan was with one of the mountain rescue teams on Tuesday night.
"As we arrived, although people were trying to clear the roads, the snow was continuing to fall and it was just making it much more difficult to get to people and to get them back out of the area," he said.
"Some people were quite able to walk with assistance to nearby vehicles, there were several people that actually had to be stretchered because the conditions were too extreme for them."
A fire appliance also became stuck in heavy snow after dealing with a burning van near Claudy.
A tractor later cleared a path for the vehicle on the Baranailt Road.
Power cuts
Northern Ireland Electricity said that widespread damage had been caused by the weather, especially in Omagh, Enniskillen, Dungannon, Downpatrick, Derry, Coleraine and Ballymena.
Problems were caused by snow and ice sticking to power lines which were then being blown over.
Roy Coulter from NIE said that they were working to restore power.
"We have about 450 engineers, linesmen, tree-cutters, call agents, admin staff and our colleagues in the Agency Supply Board are assisting us to restore supplies.
"Some of the people have worked through atrocious weather conditions right through the night in up to 300mm of snow.
"There was very poor visibility and wind so strong they couldn't actually climb poles."
Police have said driving conditions across Northern Ireland are "treacherous" and advised motorists to slow down.
