Transport Minister Michelle McIlveen has welcomed ‘Met Man’ Tom Keenan to the TransportNI team who work to keep traffic moving safely and freely on our main roads during the winter.
~ Tuesday, 22 December 2015
Until March next year Mr Keenan, who is employed by the Met Office, will be based at TransportNI Traffic Control Centre in Belfast to give expert opinion on local weather forecasting.
Transport Minister Michelle McIlveen said: “With over 300 staff and a fleet of 130 gritters and eight specialist snow blower vehicles available to help keep open the main road in Northern Ireland it is essential we deploy our resources to maximum effect.
“We already work very closely with the Met Office who provide forecast directly to us, but having a Meteorologist on our team means that we will be much better placed to make informed judgement on local weather conditions.”
TransportNI Winter Service programme was launched in October and will remain in place until April.