Why UK Gritting Services are Still Needed Even in a Mild Winter

This year’s (2014) mild winter still saw UK gritting services out on the road in the late evening, or early hours of the morning. Why? Even if you are faced with spring-like weather during the day, the temperature can still plummet dramatically at night causing ice to settle on roads, car parks and footpaths.

Take Suffolk, for instance, the county is not on high ground and the weather is fairly mild in comparison to Scotland and Northern England. However, the county council Tweeted they gritted hundreds of miles of roads on two dozen occasions between New Year’s Day and March 1.

In addition to this, they also used Twitter to remind drivers to take care when motoring as not all routes are gritted. For this reason, it is vital for business owners to employ the services of private gritting contractors, such as Ice Watch, to ensure the safety of people getting to and from their premises.

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A glimpse at County Council gritting services in Suffolk

Like Ice Watch, councils rely on specialist forecasts to predict localised road surface temperatures – and the green light to grit is triggered when temperatures fall to 1C and below. The road temperature is lower than air temperature, so it means gritting may be necessary, despite the lack of snow.

Explaining the reason to grit in mild weather, a county council spokesman told the Ipswich Evening Star: “The surface temperature is much lower than a couple of feet off the ground and we have to rely on forecasts,” he said. 

“If we had a warning from our specialist forecasters and didn’t act on it and then there were accidents, people would quite understandably be very angry about that.”

The council explained that gritting wasn’t just about dealing with snow, but also ice and frost that settles in freezing conditions.

This year’s winter was a welcome comparison to last year when the cost of the county council’s gritting went £800,000 over budget and the council used twice as much salt as in the previous year.

Why it is important for businesses to be prepared

 "I prepare for the worst but hope for the best,” is the famous quote by Benjamin Disraeli, UK’s Prime Minister between 1874 and 1880. As a business owner, you never know when frost might strike or when to expect snowfall, so it is important to do just that – be prepared so you are not caught out.

With the British weather so unpredictable, it is vital to be organised well in advance of frost or snow flurries. Although December in East Anglia last year (2012) was the 12th warmest winter in 114 years, last year saw several Arctic blasts. And next year, who knows what will happen?

Even with spring approaching, you cannot rest on your laurels because UK records show snowfall is more likely to happen during the months of March and April, than it is in November and October.

Businesses need to remain open and deliveries still need to be made whatever the weather.

So, if you contact UK gritting services, such as Ice Watch now, you will be fully prepared and can get your risk assessment done well in advance before bad weather strikes.

How Ice Watch keeps things moving

UK gritting services are vital in winter and most of the time we, as motorists, take for granted that the gritters are working round the clock to keep roads safe.

As well as for everyday drivers, gritters play a vital role in the corporate world as they help keep businesses open and running smoothly and ensure people can go to work as normal, and deliveries can be made. 

Car parks that aren’t gritted can have a knock on effect financially for some businesses. Some gastro pubs and restaurants, for instance, have found their takings drop in snowy weather if their car parks aren’t gritted because customers decide to play safe and go elsewhere to eat.

Not only this, if you run an organisation, you are under a legal obligation to keep staff and customers safe. Not all roads are covered by council gritters, so solving the problem means organising private UK gritting services to keep roadways, car parks and walkways free of ice. Ice Watch gives you complete peace of mind knowing that you have done all you can to prevent injuries in harsh weather.

Ice Watch offers a complete service, including gritting, snow clearance and the provision of grit buckets. Our services include risk assessments and reporting and careful monitoring of weather conditions, and you can rely on us to set our wheels in motion when temperatures plummet. There’s no wastage as Ice Watch only grit as and when necessary, and we keep things running smoothly even in the most unpredictable weather.

Ice Watch -  contact us now to organise a risk assessment.