Gritters are set to move into action from this weekend with cold weather set to arrive soon.

From Saturday (October 1) Hertfordshire County Council's fleet of over 58 gritters are on standby, ready to spring into action and salt the county's roads when freezing weather approaches. 

Gritter crews and decision makers from our highways team will be ready around the clock to cover nearly half of Hertfordshire's entire road network, stretching more than 1,500 miles (2,500km).

Phil Bibby, Executive Member for Highways and Transport at Hertfordshire County Council said: "October is the beginning of our winter season, and we make sure our gritters are ready, our salt stocks in the depots are high and that the county's 1,000-plus salt bins are topped up before freezing weather arrives. Our crews will be on standby 24 hours a day until April, ready to deal with whatever the weather throws at us.

 "We don't know how much, if any, snow and ice we'll see this winter, but I am confident that our highways teams are ready, and we will do everything we can to keep the county's roads open and safe, whatever the weather."

We send out our gritters when road surface temperatures are forecast to be 0.5°c, or below.

We will, where practical and accessible, grit roads to schools, care homes, doctor's surgeries, key pharmacies and libraries, as well as all the county's A and B roads, bus routes (including school bus routes), roads with a 10% gradient or steeper and at least one route into every village. You can do your bit by parking sensibly and not blocking roads. 

We supply salt to schools if they request it, to help them stay open during icy weather. We will also supply district, borough, parish and town councils on request, so they can use their local knowledge to identify exactly where best to use the salt during severe weather.