So on this final day of this year’s Winter Awareness Campaign, we are revealing some stats that lie behind the efforts to keep South Lanarkshire’s roads and footpaths as safe and passable as possible when the worst of the winter weather hits our area.

Did you know...?

Salt

Last year we used 19,737 tonnes of salt. We expect our salt supplies to be around 31,400 tonnes as we enter the main winter season. National salt shortages of the relatively recent past have shown that all councils must be well prepared.

Gritting

49% of the total road network will be gritted when snow or ice is forecast, including all A-class roads and important access roads such as for hospitals, fire stations and isolated communities. Typically, councils grit 45% of their networks, so we do more than the average. You can now follow our gritters in real time on our website  Gritting Routes

Our resources

We have more than 150 winter road workers with access to our fleet of 29 gritters, 12 footpath tractors and four loaders to help them salt the roads, clear snow and keep roads and footpaths in as safe a condition as our resources permit. We also rely on the assistance of many colleagues in Land Services, and mobilise farmers and contractors to assist when necessary.

Councillor Robert Brown, the Chair of the Community and Enterprise Resources Committee, said: “Hopefully this week has been useful to everyone, as we want to remind people of the need to be prepared for winter.

“I believe the information we have been sharing will be useful to all our residents and will serve as a timely reminder of what to expect and how to cope as the winter progresses.

“We are all aware how quickly the Scottish weather can take a turn for the worse and our advice will help you to be as prepared as you can be.

“Our dedicated council teams will be out doing as much as they can during any challenging weather conditions we may face during the winter period, and I am hugely grateful to them for their relentless work and dedication.”

More information can be found as follows:

• Our Roads in Winter pages have our winter maintenance details as well as main gritting routes and grit bin locations
• On social media, check @southlancouncil for 24-hour weather forecasts and information on when the gritters will be out and about