Gritters out in Milton Keynes today as melted snow is set to freeze on roads tonight

Milton Keynes City Council ordered the move this morning after the snow started to melt as quickly as it fell.

Road surface temperatures are forecast to fall below zero this evening and the melted snow could turn into potentially dangerous ice, say experts.

A council spokesperson said: “We're doing our first two grit runs of the winter season today on Priority 1 routes...Due to the earlier snow, there will be more water on the road which will freeze.”

Priority 1 routes include grid roads, bus routes and main access roads. These are salted every time frost, snow or ice is forecast.

"We use nine lorries each time we salt the priority 1 routes and it takes us three hours to complete. The salting is carried out at different times based on the daily weather reports. Where possible we try to do this outside peak times to minimise disruption,” said the council spokesperson.

“Our highways team receive regular weather forecasts specifically for road surface temperatures each day so they can decide when the gritters need to go out across the MK road network. The weather forecast is used along with specialist computerised ice detection equipment which can check the current road temperature as this can be much lower than the forecasted air temperatures.”

In freezing weather the council sometimes sprays saline (salty water) onto key redway routes as an alternative to gritting.

Residential (estate) roads are not usually included in the gritting routes unless there is heavy, lying snow.

"We do not salt the footways in residential areas but residents may use the salt in the grit bins to cover these instead. We do hand salt local high streets and around CMK shopping areas,” said the spokesperson.

Salt bins can be used for people to grit their own roads and footways, but not their private driveways or paths, they added.

The council also does not grit privately owned or unadopted roads, which may include some of the newer estates.

National Highways (formerly Highways England) covers the gritting of the M1 and A5.