North Yorkshire County Council Winter Service

Telephone: 08458 727374: 2168 or e-mail; Motorways & trunk roads are maintained by private contractors on behalf of the Highways Agency - contact: 08457 504030 or e-mail. Richmond Division: 0845 3669501

From October to April Highways is prepared for most weather conditions. Equipment is checked to ensure that it is available for the first signs of snow or frost. Different methods and machines are used for different conditions. For normal icy road forecasts 90 gritters are available to carry out gritting. For severe conditions and heavy snow additional vehicles, staff and hired equipment augment the gritters. In rural areas NYCC call on the help of some 150 local farmers.

It aims to cope with the most severe weather. However, it is not practicable to keep all these clear of ice and snow at all times. It is important that you are aware of the basis on which gritters, snow ploughs and snow blowers are employed in as far as the roads immediately surrounding the area are concerned.

Detailed weather forecasts together with a 24 hour consultancy service, available to Highways staff ensures that updates on conditions are readily available. Vital back up information is available via a sophisticated system of ice prediction computers and weather stations located throughout the county. These all help to determine when salting needs to be carried out on main routes to prevent frost and ice from forming on the road surfaces. Salting, when necessary, is mostly done in the evening or early morning. Continuous snowfall and strong winds will influence snow clearing operations considerably and will therefore delay completion times.