Colin's updates and infomation

The Gritters were out four times yesterday and four time on Thursday spreading around 1600 tons of grit on Surreys roads. They were also out late evening yesterday in areas that were suffering from the evening snowfall. This grit is not magic and drivers still need to be careful as patches of ice will still form.

There was a coordinated response yesterday evening and all Surrey Services and our partners worked together on the response yesterday evening and met regular through teleconference to set priorities and direction.

The impacts overnight were mainly in the west of the County and specifically Hazelmere, Farnham and Camberley areas as Surrey communities were on the edge of the main weather impacts in Hampshire.

Surrey EMT took part in the Hampshire Teleconference to understand the knock on impacts the M3 closures linked impacts. Our colleagues for the Surrey 4×4 Response Group (Volunteers) did go into Hampshire to assist with the clearing of stranded and stuck motorists, which really helped to recovery the motorway and allow for Highways England to follow up with extensive gritting to allow the Motorway to open.

The ASC Enablement Teams in the area worked through the night to ensure that all those that needed support in their personal care were looked after. EMT provided 4×4 support to them in this. There will be some recovery work to do this morning as some of the team had to leave their cars at clients houses and they will need a bit of time to collect them and get back to normal.

There is other recovery work underway to support Frimley Hospital where, again! The Surrey 4×4 Response Group (volunteers) have stepped up, and are taking patients home who were unable to make the trip yesterday. This is freeing up bed space and Ambulance resource at a difficult time of year for hospitals and helps bring things back to normal for Monday planned treatments and operations.

One thing to be noted, was that residents and communities were doing a lot to help themselves and others, with the use of the grit bins to treat the roads on hills in that area and other activities. We are currently ‘touring’ all the Joint and Local Communities to promote Community Resilience and this is exactly what we mean when we are discussing this important area of the team’s work.

We would like to highlight to you the efforts of both the Surrey 4×4 Responder Group and the colleagues in the ASC Enablement Teams in the Farnham and Hazelmere areas, who did go the extra mile to support residents as a part of what was a wider team effort.

We hope we are past the worst of the current snow, but ice will remain a risk for the next few days.

Dear All,

As you will be aware, we are expecting snow across the county this evening and overnight. Snow is forecast from 7pm this evening until 7pm tomorrow morning which could result in 5-10cm of snow in the worst hit areas.

Surrey Highways and Kier are well prepared to respond and have been carrying out preparatory action all week with additional gritting being carried out on the P2 network as well as the P1 network.

We will be focussing on keeping the strategic Priority 1 roads gritted and if necessary ploughed. Actions are taking place as follows;

1pm today P1 gritting run
7pm today P1 gritting run
4am Friday P1 gritting run – with ploughs if required

Our network of farmers are also on standby to plough their routes as needed and we will have 8 “hand salting” crews and 4 ad-hoc gritters available tomorrow to respond to areas of concern. If you have areas of concern tomorrow that you think require attention, please can you raise them through your Area Highway Manager who will be able to prioritise resources to the most in need areas.

Even with all this preparation it is expected there will be some hazards and disruption across the network so please take care if you are out travelling during this period.

As always further information on what roads are gritted and other information can be found on the website.

Do let me or your AHM know of any questions or concerns.

Kind regards

Matt Furniss

Cabinet Member for Highways
Surrey County Councillor – Shalford Division

Gritting decision for Thursday 31 January 2019 – Action from 1pm on all priority one routes

Previously proposed 10am priority two run postponed. More updates to follow throughout the day.

Domain A – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 1pm
Domain B – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 1pm
Domain C – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 1pm
Domain D – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 1pm
Domain D high routes – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 1pm

Domain A: North Surrey – Elmbridge and Spelthorne Domain B: North West Surrey – Runnymede, Surrey Heath and Woking
Domain C: South West Surrey – Guildford and Waverley Domain D: East Surrey – Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead and Tandridge

Highways England* (M3, A3) – No information available at this time

36hr weather forecast
Ice / Hoar Frost – B¬¬lack ice forecast at 7am
Snow – Forecast between 7pm-8am
Minimum Road Surface Temperature -1.7°C
Minimum Air Temperature -1.4°C

Cold this morning and any freezing fog will slowly lift to leave some sunshine. This afternoon sunshine will fade as the cloud thickens from the west.
Outbreaks of snow will move in from the south-west. This will become persistent and perhaps locally heavy giving a risk of significant falls in places. The snow may become patchier towards dawn.
Staying cold and quite cloudy tomorrow. There will be a risk of wintry showers, some of which may merge to give longer spells of rain, sleet and snow at times.

Road conditions:

Road surface temperatures falling to around zero tonight – see tables for details/hazards. Some drifting of snow is possible, mostly on hills. Low confidence on the amount of snow.

Current road surface temperature highs at our weather station in M25/M23 Merstham are 2.5°C and lows of -2.6°C in Church Lane.

Gritting decision for Thursday 31 January 2019 – Action 1 from 10am on all priority 2 routes 

Further action to follow throughout the day tomorrow

Domain A – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain B – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain C – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain D – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain D high routes – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
 

 
Highways England* (M3, A3) – No information available at this time

36hr weather forecast
Ice / Hoar Frost – Hoar frost forecast between 2am-8am and b­­lack ice forecast between 6pm-10am
Snow – None forecast
Minimum Road Surface Temperature -6.2°C
Minimum Air Temperature -5.8°C
Today will be cold but dry and fine. There should be lengthy periods of winter sunshine and just light winds.
Tonight will be dry with clear periods. A few patches of mist or freezing fog may form in the early hours under light winds.
Tomorrow, any fog will clear to leave sunny spells but cloud will start to thicken into the afternoon. Later in the afternoon and into the evening there is the growing chance of snow pushing in. 
Road conditions:
Tonight will be very cold with road surface temperatures well below zero – see tables for hazards. Confidence is high tonight but low on the chance of snow later tomorrow – a few cms are possible in some places by the end of Thursday afternoon, although it is more likely in the evening and overnight. 

Current road surface temperature highs at our weather station in A29 Adversane are 9.4°C and lows of 1.7°C in A325 Frimley Hospital.

Gritting decision for Tuesday 29 January 2019 – Action 3 from 7pm on all priority 1 routes

Domain A – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain B – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain C – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain D – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain D high routes – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm

Highways England* (M3, A3) – Action required at 7:30pm

Gritting decision for Tuesday 29 January 2019 – Action 2 from 2pm on all priority 1 routes 

Further action to follow throughout the day

Domain A – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 2pm
Domain B – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 2pm
Domain C – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 2pm
Domain D – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 2pm
Domain D high routes – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 2pm

Highways England* (M3, A3) – No information available at this time

Gritting decision for Tuesday 29 January 2019 – Action 1 from 10am on all priority 2 routes 

Further action to follow throughout the day

Domain A – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain B – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain C – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain D – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am
Domain D high routes – 20 grams per square metre on all priority 2 routes from 10am

Highways England* (M3, A3) – No information available at this time

36hr weather forecast

Ice / Hoar Frost – Black ice forecast from 1am to 10am
Snow – Forecast from 7pm to 1am
Minimum Road Surface Temperature -4.5°C
Minimum Air Temperature -4.6°C

Any hazy sunshine first thing will fade as cloud thickens, bringing outbreaks of light rain or drizzle. Cold.
Rain will become heavier this evening, turning to sleet or snow in places before moving away eastwards overnight. Turning frosty with the risk of ice.

Tomorrow will be a cold but dry and fine day with periods of winter sunshine and just a little patchy cloud at times.

Road conditions:

A wintry mix of precipitation will move in from the west today, bringing the potential for some sleet/snow on the higher ground, particularly later this afternoon (mainly above 200-250m or so). As a result, road surface temperatures on the high ground may behave erratically today. Road surface temperatures are then expected to fall below zero more widely tonight, as skies clear. See tables for details. Low confidence on road surface temperature evolution today, but generally high confidence tonight. 

Current road surface temperature highs at our weather station in A3050 Walton on Thames are 2.9°C and lows of -2.2°C in A24 Beare Green.

Gritting decision for Monday 28 January 2019 – Action from 7pm on all priority 1 routes

Domain A – 11 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain B – 11 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain C – 11 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain D – 11 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm
Domain D high routes – 11 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm

Highways England* (M3, A3) – Action required at 7pm
36hr weather forecast
Ice / Hoar Frost – Hoar frost forecast between 12am-10am
Snow – Forecast from 7pm Tuesday
Minimum Road Surface Temperature -4.5°C
Minimum Air Temperature -4.6°C

This afternoon will be dry with further long spells of sunshine and just the odd small patch of cloud. Rather chilly but not as windy as Sunday.

Tonight will be dry with clear skies for a time along with a widespread frost. Somewhat more cloud around later on in the night.

Tomorrow should start dry, perhaps with some hazy sunshine at first. However, it will otherwise be cloudy with some patchy rain and sleet. Rain turning to snow after dark.

Road conditions:
Road surface temperatures below zero tonight – high confidence.
Current road surface temperature highs at our weather station in A286 Brook are 11.9°C and lows of 3.4°C in A3050 Walton on Thames.

Gritting decision for Sunday 27 January 2019 – Action from 7pm on all priority 1 routes

Domain A – 8 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm

Domain B – 8 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm

Domain C – 8 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm

Domain D – 8 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm

Domain D high routes – 8 grams per square metre on all priority 1 routes from 7pm

Highways England* (M3, A3) – Action required at 9pm

36hr weather forecast

Ice / Hoar Frost – None forecast

Snow – None forecast

Minimum Road Surface Temperature -2.6°C

Minimum Air Temperature -0.2°C

Showery rain at first today, and possibly some sleet or snow on the hills, will clear this morning to leave a mainly dry afternoon with some sunny spells. A windy day and feeling colder.

This evening and tonight it will become dry with mainly clear skies. It will be a cold night with a widespread frost forming. The strong winds will ease through tonight too.

A cold and frosty start on Monday. It is then expected to be a generally dry and fine day with long spells of sunshine. Staying cold, but it will be a less windy day.

Road conditions:

Road surface temperatures are expected to drop below zero tonight. Overall, high confidence.

Current road surface temperature highs at our weather station in A286 Brook are 7.6°C and lows of 4.4°C in B2218 Banstead.