Road gritting teams are taking to Nottinghamshire’s roads for the first time this autumn as forecasts show the county could be in for a cold winter.
Road surface temperatures were close to freezing by 5am on Sunday, with the danger of icy patches forming, following wet weather on Saturday.
Nottinghamshire County Council say disruption was kept to a minimum as the gritting teams made their seasonal debut at 8pm on Saturday.
The authority’s gritters have been on part-time standby since the beginning of October, and are set to go on full-time standby this Sunday, November 1, in full preparation for winter.
The council’s four salt barns are already full to the brim, giving it 12,000 tonnes more salt stockpiled than official government recommendations.
Councillor Kevin Greaves, chairman of the transport and highways committee, is confident the council has left nothing to chance.
He said: “Our planning for winter carries on all year round and we are confident that we are in a stronger position than ever to deal with winter.
“Our preparations mean that we will be ready to act as soon as any bad weather arrives.
“Like most people we keep our fingers crossed and hope that the coming winter won’t be too severe, but we have to be realistic and plan for the worst.”
Winter warning: Some reports suggest the coming winter will be the worst in years due to the ‘El Nino effect’
-El Nino is the name given to describe an up-welling of warmer than average water in the Equatorial Pacific which is known to disrupt climate patterns around the world
-During the last El Nino of 2009/2010, the winter across northern Europe, including the UK, was exceptionally cold, with the County Council carrying out 108 gritting runs, almost double than in more recent winters.
