Weather and Road Conditions Update

[Woody]

Update on the weather and road condition in Hampshire last night and today.
The road surface temperatures plummeted to around minus 7 degrees and this as predicted has extended and deepened the icy surfaces.
The main road network is passable (with a few exceptions listed below) and the most difficult part is the South East area , Gosport, Fareham, Havant corridor. All routes off the main roads have not been treated and will be difficult throughout the county.
The roads that are difficult are the A27, between Bursledon and Fareham and after extensive work with JCB's and hand clearance overnight the route was secured. The A272 is passable but with extreme care because of ice problems at Langrish.
The A3M recovery of abandoned vehicles is still a priority and is in hand with Police and Highway Agency and input from us. There is a planned closure tonight to recover abandoned vehicles and to facilitate electricity supply repair work. We have had some significant issues with trees falling due to the weight of snow on the branches , over 70 to date and these have had an impact on the network and bringing down power lines leading to a major issue of loss of power to homes in East Hants particularly between Petersfield and Bordon. The Power company is at the Adverse weather office and managing restoration of the supplies. Though some supplies have been reconnected during the day, and it is hoped most will be restored tonight. Vehicle access to locations is a key issue on the restoration of power - and colleagues from Fire and Rescue have been pivotal to supporting the electricity supply company work on this matter. We are expecting further tree falls as the snow freezes to branches, though any increase in air temperatures may help here. We have alerted our local offices and arboriculture teams about these issues, and have also received support from Countryside service colleagues with tree clearance.
The very cold road surface temperature means the salt is having limited impact as a de-icing agent ( salt loses its effectiveness at minus 5 and is ineffective at minus 10) we are at these levels. The treatment plan over this next phase is to target mechanical removal on the more major routes , few in number but mainly focus on the next order priority routes. The plan is to use JCB's , trucks and grit salt mix to systematically work through the roads and busy footways. Contractor staff, Districts and farmers are all helping. Further opportunities for labour are being explored to get as many on the ground as possible. We expect to increase capacity on this tomorrow as more contractor staff are available, and I am grateful to our partners for their help - for example we now have some HWRC operatives redeployed to this work as their HWRC's remain closed.
The national salt cell is in place which means that Government are directing supplies and rationing and distributing to the authorities and areas that they see as most critical. Despite the severity of the weather events here, as witnessed by the prominent coverage of Hampshire in the national media, there is no indication of further deliveries to Hampshire in the immediate future. We will indicate the critical situation in the daily return to the government on salt stocks and would expect to receive further supplies on this basis.
As mutual aid we assisted treating the approaches to QA hospital and in turn we received assistance from the Highways Agency who helped to treat the A31 around Alton and the area around Junction 9 of M27 at Whiteley. The weather pattern is looking at continued extremely cold surface temperature for the next 5 days , with a threat of more snow and possible blizzard conditions on Sunday - though this forecast is likely to be refined over the next 48 hrs. This weather pattern will dictate our treatment strategy over the period. The very low temperatures means that we will limit the amount salt being spread because of its reduced effectiveness. We are also looking at treating a smaller network of priority routes that are more strategically important.
We currently have 2000 Tonnes of salt in stock (about 20% of our pre winter stock) this is sufficient for about 8 county wide priority 1 route runs (though this is dependent on the concentration of salt used - and we are exploring more use of a salt/grit mix in these very cold and icy conditions). We will now be undertaking 1 salt run a day to deal with early morning travel for hoar frost and ice, with an allowance for limited hand salting at specific problem locations and additional single treatment to help snow risk. This will help to keep things moving on the main network, but also leave us with some salt to tackle further severe weather impacts on Sunday. The main focus for tomorrow will therefore be on removal by of snow and ice by work gangs supported by JCBs etc where we can - though even the JCBs have struggled to break up the ice in Gosport today !

Cllr Sean Woodward

[Mr R]

As tonight's going to be the coldest night so far, On the news they suggested leaving your heating on all night to help stop the pipes in your loft freezing.

[blackdog]

It's quite obvious that Hampshire County Council has been left with its pants around its ankles and with its privates shrivelling in shame over this one. Everyone knew that the cold spell was on its way well beforehand.

[normalbloke]

It's quite obvious that EVERY County Council has been left with its pants around its ankles and with its privates shrivelling in shame over this one. Everyone knew that the cold spell was on its way well beforehand.

EFA, HTH.

[j_m_photography]

It's quite obvious that Hampshire County Council has been left with its pants around its ankles and with its privates shrivelling in shame over this one. Everyone knew that the cold spell was on its way well beforehand.

On BBC Radio Solent this morning I heard HCC say they ordered extra salt way before xmas but before it was delivered the Government took control over what salt gets delivered to who. So I guess at least some of the blame goes to the Government.

I looked up what the HCC priority and secondary routes were for salting. Apparently, from the Solent Hotel, up Yew Tree Drive and round Sweethills Crescent - is all a secondary route for salting....but I haven't seen any evidence of it yet. How long is it going to be?

[Woody]

Apparently, from the Solent Hotel, up Yew Tree Drive and round Sweethills Crescent - is all a secondary route for salting

I supose they have to prioritise and conserve stocks. I mean the weather is unusual. Sweethills does seem passable now anyway if a little slippery.
I would say a big thankyou to FBC and Sean Woodward for these updates they are very useful.

[Woody]

Update on the weather and road condition in South Hampshire last night and today.

There was no abatement of the extremely cold temperatures overnight and road surfaces plummeted to lower sub zero temperatures as previous nights causing further consolidation of the existing icy surfaces. The situation on the priority 1 routes is that they are all passable although on some sections of dual carriage way and roundabout approaches remain icy and give reduced traffic capacity.

A countywide salt run was carried out last evening to deal with the ice, frost and isolated very light snow flurries across the region.

Distributor roads are improved because of trafficking but most minor road and footways remain iced up.
The situation in the South of the County particularly around Gosport , and parts of Fareham and Havant are very difficult.

The A32 into Gosport has required targeted treatment with JCB's and spot salting overnight to help ease the problems.
The traffic levels have been much reduced as travellers have heeded advice, but this morning more motorists appeared to be venturing out and there was more congestion. It is expected that there will be a significant increase in traffic on Monday morning, unless the weather is particularly bad.

School closures and accessibility has emerged a s a media issue more today, though there were significantly more Hampshire Schools full or partially open today. Whilst many of the larger schools are on Priority routes, by no means all schools are, and there are problems with even short stretches of road which are not on the salted network. Access to these is being checked and we will do all we can to assist where possible over the weekend.

A key priority has been the restoration of power to homes without electricity and the closure of the A3M to help repair cable went off successfully, this required much planning and work to clear abandoned cars and salt the diversionary route in place to facilitate this. The A3M/A3T is now clear of abandoned vehicles.

We received many requests from Emergency services and hospitals for treatment to their premises, we dealt with these as a priority, although in usual situations these would be matters for their facilities management teams.

Extra resources have been mobilised from a number of sources , our Term Highway Contractor, partners and District and Town and Parish Councils. Currently around 300 are deployed on the streets helping with the hand gritting of roads and footways and we are adding to that as much as possible and the teams will work through the weekend to ensure that the ways are cleared as quickly as possible. As much extra plant as can be sourced has been brought in particularly JCB's to help with snow and ice removal. It will not be possible however to get to all footways and side roads and a systematic process of working through these in priority order is in place. The Adverse weather office at Netly is on standby but local adverse weather offices in the Area offices and will; continue over the weekend.

The spreading of finer grade grit through our gritters has been successfully trialled in Basingstoke today, and this will be rolled out on the P2 routes Countywide tomorrow, with 2 planned runs. This treatment will not melt the ice, but does give additional traction on compacted snow and ice. In addition to the extra gangs doing manual clearance, I hope that this will begin to unlock parts of the side road network and some main pedestrian thoroughfares.

The weather forecast is for continuing cold weather with snow. The snow threat is not severe for most of Hampshire at this stage, though the South East may see some accumulations - however the snow is likely to be lighter and drier than the previous load, which, combined with strong north easterly winds may cause drifting in exposed areas. We also have some concerns about more trees coming down in this weather. We are planning on the treatment and response to this, in contact with the weather forecaster. The salt levels are as set out in the Government salt return and the strategy to undertake 1 salt run to deal with the hoar frost and ice , with provision for the possible snow at the weekend remains the strategy. Mechanical removal of ice and snow and grit spreading on suitable surfaces is also in place and will continue.

Cllr Sean Woodward

[ElBocko]

Thanks for the updates Woody

[j_m_photography]

These Sean Woodward updates are excellent - I've not seen anything as precise and thorough on the main news channels.

Well done Woody for sourcing these.

[Woody]

Light snow as expected came in from the east and wind blown prolems are an issue in the East part of Hampshire, but mainly wind blown existing snow drifting. We have today deployed snow blowers in the east, and are having to tackle significant drifting problems here with several foot deep drifts in places.

The conditions in the far east are difficult and are a priority. There are also trees down and the risk of power lines failure as well, although we have not had any feedback yet from police on this. We have not however activated the Adverse Weather Office today, concentrating instead on dealing withthe issues locally. This will however be reviewed for tonight and more likely tomorrow, as we expect a big increase in traffic on the network as more schools open and people return to work.

We have additional resources in place to deal with tree issues. In addition hardware, gritters and staff have been offered from Area West and can be directed to East should they needed it.

The situation in the South remains as before, with a systematic clear up using the resources to spread grit and mechanically remove ice and snow.
The slight falls overnight have not impacted significantly on this. The position in North is similar to South. In the North we have had 14 gangs working today and have been able to deal with some school access routes through hand treatment and manual removal of snow and ice.

The situation in West is less severe, with p1 and p2 roads generally black. Some problems on minor roads but not at the same scale as the far East. We will continue with the clear up in west, but re-deploy resources east and south as required.

The weather forecast is very complex and difficult, the temperatures are rising with an obvious thaw in parts today. The road surface temperatures are rising in some parts but still sub zero and remaining very low with little recovery in other parts. The threat of light rain freezing on impact is an issue, and later snow showers albeit limited accumulations.

The gritter fleet is available locally grit local roads that are snowed up and we are planning to run over night on the P1 routes subject to forecast update. Salt supplies are now becoming a significant factor, and whilst there are now indications that we may get limited re-supply next week, this will very much be on a hand to mouth basis, as the salt cell takes over national distribution. We are also being asked to consider some significant measures to further reduce use of salt, some of which have been trailed in the media (e.g. 25% reduction through reduced salting such as motorway hard-shoulders, or more use of blended materials to eke out salt supplies).

Cllr Sean Woodward

[normalbloke]

I assume this is C&P from the Highways Agency?

[Woody]

The conditions on the network eased today with a continued thaw and the deployment of contractors and plant to help remove ice and snow. Gritting continued on the road and footway network. There has been a focus on schools which carries on from the weekend work.
The major extent of the snow that has fallen, which is still in significant accumulations alongside the running lanes on many routes in the north and east of the County and the ice on the network means that conditions are still difficult. The 'A' class roads required ploughing on Sunday as a result of wind blowing existing snow accumulations around in the North and East, and a snow blower was deployed in the East to tackle some significant snow drifts which resulted from the stronger wind. There are many miles of road and footway network still covered with snow and ice and many residential roads and lanes. Resources are fully deployed but do not equip us to deal with these currently as the focus is still on priority routes and footways.
Understandably we are receiving more complaints from residents demanding clearance and we are not able to satisfy these requests. It is unlikely that we will be able to in the near future. Self help has achieved much in certain communities, and we have consistently tried to recognise this in our media releases and briefings. We have also received many requests from schools and other critical facilities for grit, we are helping where we can as a priority. Demands are high and taking much resource.
This event now in its 25th day with snow falls up to 300 mm on a scale that is unprecedented possibly on a par with 1962/63 or a 50 year event. The scale of clearance required needs to be seen in this context and perspective. It is anticipated that with a natural thaw over this week and continued working, conditions will ease by the end of this week, but many residents will be impatient that clearance is evident before then. Our targeting of school accesses over the weekend and yesterday has helped schools to re-open and we have also been able to treat some other priority spots identified locally.
The next few days offer respite in the sense of higher air temperatures but there is a risk of snow tonight and early on Wednesday morning - with the forecast suggesting 2-5cm across the County, and up to 10cm on higher ground. We expect this to arrive in the west by evening, and intensify by midnight into the small hours reaching all parts of the County by around 3:00am, beginning to peter out after 6:00am. For the coastal belt this will fall as sleet or rain, but quickly turn to snow away from the coast, with the cities expected to both see snow tonight. There is potential for disruption tomorrow, but it is hoped that the timing of the snow will allow us to get a clear run at treatment before rush hour traffic in the morning - however, depending on the snowfall, there may be some problems around the County tomorrow morning.
The salt provisions are being managed with routine treatment directed at the priority routes with grit treatment elsewhere where appropriate. The national salt cell have indicated deliveries this week of 1000 tonnes which is sufficient for limited continuation of routine treatment, but to date we have only received half the promised delivery. The Minister has also announced the need for further reductions in salt use this afternoon, although we have already exceeded the reduction targets based on our usual treatment regime, to conserve supplies. It is clear that a number of authorities are now running out of salt, and our reserves are critical at this point, although today's delivery has helped. We plan to target treatments tonight ahead of the snow, and again in the morning.

Cllr Sean Woodward

[normalbloke]

I assume this is C&P from the Highways Agency?

Yes? No? No comment??

[Woody]

Sorry for the delay (I do have an employer and wife and kids to keep happy as well)
These updates come from a daily briefing from the Director of Environment at Hampshire County Council (not the Highways Agency who are only responsible for motorways and trunk roads). The updates then enable Cllr Woodward to pass on relevant information to his constituents as appropriate.

[Woody]

Heavier snow falls than expected along the coast, and in the East, but generally as predicted with between 2 & 5 cm, though tending to the higher end of this range, with more on higher ground. The snow was very wet and with rising temperatures today has begun to dissipate but will linger and cause problems where it has fallen on surfaces already covered with compacted ice and snow.
The network issues were widespread in North, East and West with most main roads passable but running with restricted lane widths in rural routes. A number of A roads were closed due to stuck vehicles, especially on hills, Accidents and difficulties at the usual spots; A31 , Cheesfoot Head A272; many B roads are difficult in East with vehicles stuck, Empshott Hill in East.
An overnight gritting run was undertaken with 2 follow up runs with a salt / grit mix. Local snow centres were opened in area offices in West, East and North. Farmers were also mobilised and again have been really helpful in clearing snow and helping vehicle recovery.
We were expecting some traffic and local road problems this morning, and duly got some, especially in the East and North areas.
Several jack-knifed lorries helped to cause severe congestion in the north this morning with various roads at a standstill but all were cleared during the morning, and the traffic has since been running again albeit slowly. The Highways Agency have helped us again by ploughing dual carriageways in Basingstoke and the North area during their off time and we used our lorries this afternoon to continue ploughing with no salt or grit being spread. In the East area a number of road closures were also tackled in the morning (including the A325 at Bordon, the B2150 at Droxford, B3004 at Worldham and Bramshott Hill), and all were re-opened by lunchtime. We also had problems on the A3057 north of Stockbridge for a time, and some disruption to buses and train services affecting the whole County.
We continued to deploy plant and resources to those priority locations where ice and snow are still problematic, on completion of the morning gritting runs, and we also deployed snow ploughing capability on routes around central Hampshire. The minor roads and footways will continue to be a problem until a significant thaw takes place, though resources on the ground will continue clearance of priority locations.
We used around 600 tonnes of salt overnight and this morning, in an effort to keep main routes open, and will review stocks and evaluate our treatment strategy for the remainder of the week tomorrow morning. The Government have called on Local Councils to reduce salt use by 40% now, but we have already implemented most of these measures in our efforts to maintain supplies of salt to keep the County's main routes open. We had a re-supply yesterday and Monday of 500 tonnes, and have been allocated a further 500 tonnes for delivery this week. We understand the delivery schedule for the end of the week will be available tomorrow, and obviously we hope to receive further supplies to replenish our stocks - although in view of the national picture, we do not expect to build any significant reserves up until the spring, as national output cannot meet demand. The strategy is to ensure that everyone has enough to keep going, but larger reserve stockpiles are very unlikely to be secured anywhere.
The weather forecast is for rain overnight, followed by mist and fog, but with freezing temperatures as well. This will mean continued ice formation overnight, combined with daytime snow melt. The melt will produce a lot of surface water much of will be trapped on roads unable to get away because of snow and ice blockage to drainage ditches and grips. Freezing of the surface water and localised flooding will be evident although we are not expecting serious flooding. We will be deploying routine crews to cut through to drains to release water and erect signage as necessary. ain forecast for later in the week will add to the difficulties but will assist the melting of the ice and snow. We are warning drivers and road users to exercise particular care and drive appropriately in the conditions.

Cllr Sean Woodward

[blackdog]

These updates come from a daily briefing from the Director of Environment at Hampshire County Council (not the Highways Agency who are only responsible for motorways and trunk roads).

Perhaps the fact that it was someone else's work should have been made clear from the beginning, rather than it being passed off as being written by a local councillor. Credit where credit's due and all that.

[Woody]

Perhaps the fact that it was someone else's work should have been made clear from the beginning, rather than it being passed off as being written by a local councillor.

I was not passing it off anything. I was simply acknowledging that the information had come via Cllr Woodward which the majority of people seem pleased he has passed on. If you want me to write an essay acknowledging every person who presumably was involved in collating the data before I post it you would probably not have got it until next winter.

[ElBocko]

Thanks again Woody (and all your entries do have Cllr Sean Woodward at the bottom of them )

[j_m_photography]

Thanks again Woody ...

Seconded!!!!!!!!!!!!

[happy_days]

Don't give a xxxx where the info came from, but appriciate you posting the updates old boy.