People urged to drive carefully as cold snap follows heavy rainfall

Monday, 16 January 2023 00:00

As temperatures are expected to fall well below zero tonight (Monday, 16 January) and for much of the coming week, there is a significant risk of dangerous patches of ice on Wiltshire roads tonight and over the next few days.

Wiltshire Council’s gritter fleet will be working throughout the night and through the period of cold weather to treat the county’s primary and secondary routes, but this will leave some local roads untreated.

People should be aware that surface water on the roads is likely to freeze and that they should drive extremely carefully, assuming there is ice present, even on treated roads.

Cllr Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Following heavy rain, there is a lot of standing water on our highways network, and this will freeze in many places in the coming hours, creating dangerous patches of ice.

“Our gritting teams are working around the clock to treat our primary and secondary routes in the county to help mitigate against the risk of ice. However, the predicted sustained period of sub-zero temperatures will mean that many roads will have patches of ice, no matter how many times we salt them.

“Anyone driving on Wiltshire’s roads over the coming days should assume that there is ice on the road and drive very carefully.

“Please do not attempt to drive through floodwater or through road closures, and do drive to the conditions. We cannot stress enough that people should ‘think ice’.”

To find out more about gritting and winter weather in Wiltshire, people should go to Gritting and snow clearance - Wiltshire Council

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