As temperatures plummeted across Scotland over the weekend, the good news for drivers is that further supplies of salt have arrived to keep the roads open.
A 26,000-tonne consignment of salt arrived at Leith Docks early on Friday morning, which was then distributed to roads authorities across Scotland and also topped up the national reserve stock, held centrally for councils in particular need. The Scottish Government expects a further 42,000-tonne delivery in the coming days.
Fife Council has revealed it is no longer rationing its salt supplies. The local authority said it had returned to normal road gritting levels following two deliveries of much-needed salt.
The local authority received a 5000-tonne delivery from its Cleveland supplier between Christmas and New Year and the Scottish Government supplied further stock on Friday, just before the region was again covered in a blanket of snow. Further deliveries are expected before the end of the month and the council is confident it is prepared for even the worst of weather.
Officials began using salt conservation measures at the beginning of December in a bid to eke out supplies, despite starting the winter with 21,000 tonnes almost twice the amount used in a typical year.
The Arctic weather which bit the country towards the end of last year saw Fife Council use 3000 tonnes of salt in just five days, and by Christmas a mere 3000 tonnes remained.Primary routesThis prompted fears the region could experience severe difficulties if the freezing weather continued. The local authority began treating primary routes only and mixed salt with sand as it fought to keep the region’s 1612 miles of roads clear.
Fife’s head of transport, Bob McLellan, told The Courier, “We received a further delivery of salt on Friday and have been out gritting all through the night on Friday and Saturday. Gritting is going ahead as normal for these conditions. If there is any further adverse weather, we are prepared.”
Scotland’s transport minister Keith Brown said, “Last December we faced the second coldest month since records began, and we remain prepared as these salt deliveries this week demonstrate. Across Scotland we have almost 540,000 tonnes in stock and on order, compared to the 417,000 tonnes used for the three months up to the end of December.
“We are therefore confident that our resilience planning will ensure that we get through the winter together by doing everything we can to minimise disruption to keep Scotland moving.”
Despite the snowfalls on Friday and Saturday nights, all roads in Fife remained open over the weekend although some parts of the A92 in the north on Sunday were described as treacherous by one driver, who said the main route to Dundee was down to a single track between New Inn and the Tay Bridge, and the road was completely white.
With traffic travelling at just 35mph, it took him 90 minutes to get from Kirkcaldy to Dundee, a journey that normally takes 50 minutes.
Fife Police reported no major weather-related problems on the roads and with no further heavy snow forecast, all Fife schools and council facilities are due to open as normal today.
Perthshire residents awoke to another unexpected white-out on Saturday morning. More than six inches of snow fell in Perth and Braco, Blackford, Auchterarder and Crieff were also badly affected.
Drivers travelling on the A9 between Dunblane and Perth were forced to reduce their speed to a crawl to avoid skidding and dangerous conditions were also reported on the M90, A90 and A85. However, no major accidents were reported in the region.TreacherousIn Angus, large parts of the A92 Dundee to Arbroath road were effectively reduced to one lane for much of the morning. The A90 was passable with care, but conditions were treacherous on countless minor roads, with snow and slush everywhere.
Gritter lorries began spreading salt on the Angus roads to help combat the ice.
They took to the streets in Dundee again on Sunday as winter returned to the city with a vengeance.
Dundee City Council chief executive David Dorward said priority had been given to the streets and roads surrounding schools to ensure they are able to open today. In an email to West End councillor Fraser Macpherson, he said road clearing began as early as possible.
He said, “I have emailed all the appropriate officers within the council and Tayside Contracts in order to maximise resources, both mechanical and human, to ensure that we apply the maximum resources as early as possible.
“Obviously with the schools back, today we are dealing with the areas around schools, in order that we can ensure that the schools are open tomorrow morning.”
Mr Dorward added the weather is due to improve over the week, which should help clear most of the fresh snow. He said, “The forecast is for slightly milder weather over the next five days, and therefore hopefully the thaw may assist us with the clearing of this current snowfall.”