Gritters will be out across Cornwall as a cold snap hits the county. Cornwall Council has an interactive map which shows gritting routes and timings.
The council said road surface temperatures are expected to drop below 0C for an extended period of time this weekend. This means that ice is likely to build on certain routes.
All of the gritting routes in the northeast and southeast of the county will be treated at 1pm this afternoon (Friday, January 3). The west and central routes will then be gritted at 2pm.
All of the routes will then be re-treated at 3am tomorrow morning (Saturday, January 4) ahead of a cold day. The Met Office is expecting the mercury to drop as low as 3C in some areas tomorrow.
It takes around three hours to grit each of Cornwall Council’s 25 routes. They cover around 1,400km (870 miles) and include the most heavily used A and B roads in the county. Roads to key sites such as hospitals, minor injury units, ambulance and fire stations, bus and railway stations and secondary schools are also treated.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued an amber cold health alert which is in place until 12pm on Wednesday, January 8. People have been warned of significant disruption across health and social care services.
(Image: Cornwall Council)
During the cold health alert, the UKHSA has warned that health services could be overwhelmed with demand. There may also be transport disruption due to freezing temperatures.
The disruption may include:
- a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. We may also see impacts on younger age groups
- a likely increase in demand for health services
- temperatures inside places like hospitals, care homes, and clinics dropping below the levels recommended for assessing health risks
- challenges keeping indoor temperatures at the recommended 18°C leading to more risk to vulnerable people
- staffing issues due to external factors (such as travel delays)
- other sectors starting to observe impacts (such as transport and energy)