Kirklees Council orders 6,000 tonnes of grit as snow returns

Dec 18 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

ANOTHER 6,000 tonnes of grit are on the way to Kirklees to keep the roads open.

Kirklees Council has put in the order as they face another weekend of full gritting, with temperatures not expected to rise above freezing.

Weather forecasters have changed their predictions of heavy snow to snow showers, with a major shift in the weather over the Yorkshire region.

But icy roads are still expected to be a problem with temperatures forecast to drop as low as -8 degrees C over the weekend.

All the council’s gritting crews were on the priority roads network last night and were expected to be out again during the course of today.

A council spokesman said: “Up to yesterday, our teams had put down 7,500 tonnes of grit since the start of the bad weather last month.

“Another 6,000 tonnes has been ordered and that will take us virtually back to the pre-winter stock of 25,000 tonnes”.

Two roads, the A635 and the A6024, were closed for part of yesterday because of snow and ice but the A635 Greenfield Road re-opened at lunchtime.

Salendine Nook weather expert PaulStevens warned of bitterly-cold temperatures for days to come.

He said: “The last 24 hours have been a bit of a forecasting nightmare. It just goes to show that even with the best and biggest computers, forecasting even 24 hours ahead can be difficult and I think the last few days have proved particularly tricky.

“We had been talking previously about heavy snow showers but the pressure has shifted and now I think we are in for snow showers across the area.

“The forecast for today is another very cold day with just a scattering of snow showers and a maximum of -1c( 30f).