Winter weather forecast

We receive a specialised winter weather forecast from the Met Office.  The daily forecast predicts possible road surface temperature, possibility of hoar frost, ice, snow etc and the time they could happen.   

A weather station based in the centre of the district measures actual road surface temperatures, air temperatures and road surface states. This means we can make fairly accurate decisions and see when gritting is necessary.  

Gritting and clearing priorities

Our aim is to treat the priority routes before the road surface temperatures fall to 0°C.  

By using forecasts and the weather station we can keep an eye on changes and adjust our gritting plan as necessary – helping to keep roads accessible and safe to use. 

Precautionary gritting is carried out on A and B roads, commuter routes, steep main roads to villages, housing or industrial estates, including roads leading to main hospitals and large schools.   

This means:

• gritting is carried out on 40% of the district’s highways - way above the national target of 22 - 38%. 
• more than 90% of all the traffic in the district uses these priority routes and on average, you are never more than 400 metres away from a treated route. 

In prolonged periods of lying snow/ice, access roads to other schools, estates and minor access roads in hilly or exposed locations will be treated on a priority basis. 

Treatment is carried out around the clock until precautionary routes are clear of snow and/or ice – including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. 

Pedestrian routes - footpaths, shopping precincts and subways

Town and city centre precincts and the very busiest footways are inspected early morning during winter and any ice or frost is treated. 

Other roads and footways are only treated during severe conditions of ice or snow once these priority routes have been cleared. This is to make sure resources are used in the most efficient way. For example, any areas that are due for a waste recycling collection will be cleared first. 

Footways are prioritised in the following order:

• Town centre streets/main pedestrian routes
• Shopping fronts
• Busy pedestrian routes
• Hospital and doctors surgery fronts/routes
• School fronts/routes
• Community centre fronts
• Steep sections of footways
• Predominately elderly resident areas
• Other residential areas
• Industrial estates 

Clearing snow – severe winters 

In severe winters when we have emergency plans to make sure many of our resources are aimed at clearing roads in the shortest time possible. 

Snow ploughing starts when more than 5 cm of snow has fallen and it continues to fall. Our aim is to clear all priority routes of snow, as soon as conditions allow. Salt spreading usually happens at the same time to make sure the cleared roads do not become icy. 

• We normally use 20 snow ploughs.
• The average length of a snow-ploughing route is approximately 25 miles.
• The average cost of clearing snow in the district is £100,000 for each 24 hour period.

Grit bins

There are almost 350 grit bins throughout the district in areas not classified as priority routes, at hilly or exposed locations. They are normally in place between November and April and restocked when needed and when possible.

The salt they hold is to be used on the highway and is not intended for private drives, paths etc. 

Requests for additional grit bins will not be fulfilled during the current winter season but all new requests and existing locations will be re-prioritised during the summer months on a strict criteria basis with a view to redistributing the 350 grit bins to the most pressing locations. This may result in some existing bins not being provided the following winter.

Often grit bins become the focus of vandalism or anti-social behaviour. If this becomes an unbearable nuisance, you can ask us to remove the bin. Other residents will need to agree.

If you would like a grit bin to be removed or relocated you can use the online Winter Gritting Form (see 'Related Links') or telephone the Wakefield Council Contact Centre (see 'Contact Winter Service').