Did you see some snow on Sunday? Preparations are well under way as Scotland gets braced for winter’s icy blast …
With the cold temperatures experienced at the weekend expected to continue into this week, Transport Minister Derek Mackay visited a salt depot near Glasgow to see the preparations that are being made for the wintry weather.
Gritters have already been out on trunk roads across the country in recent days in response to the winter conditions and Mr Mackay saw salt being loaded onto some of the state of the art spreaders used by the Scotland Transerv team at Polmadie.
He also took part in discussions with the Met Office, Police Scotland, Traffic Scotland and the Trunk Road Operating Companies, to ensure that the response to the current yellow weather warning for snow is as co-ordinated and effective as possible.
On a wider basis, agencies and organisations are working together to put their response plans into gear to keep any disruption as a result of difficult conditions to a minimum.
The Scottish Government’s Ready for Winter campaign draws all of these efforts together to offer information and advice on the simple steps that people, businesses and communities can take to prepare for and reduce the risks of winter weather.
Transport Minister, Derek Mackay said: “While this weather is not unusual in Scotland at this time of year, some areas are seeing their first snowfall of the season.
“A wide range of agencies and organisations are working together to implement their response plans with the aim of keeping disruption in difficult conditions to a minimum.
“The efforts being made by the team here at Scotland Transerv are being replicated by the Trunk Road Operating Companies across the country and the focused response to weather events will continue throughout the winter.
“We have more salt in stock today than we used across the whole of last year and our winter control rooms are monitoring conditions 24/7 ensure the winter fleet are treating and patrolling where and when they are needed.
“Motorists can see details of where and when the gritters will be in operation through the interactive winter treatments map on the Traffic Scotland website and the latest live information on conditions is available on the Traffic Scotland Twitter feed, smartphone App, internet radio and website.
“The Scottish Government’s annual preparedness campaign, Ready for Winter, is a good reminder of the simple actions we can all take to be prepared. It urges motorists to check conditions before they travel, leave some extra time for their journeys and make sure their vehicle is well maintained with an emergency kit.
“So far this year, the campaign has visited 31 communities across the country, giving advice to 36,000 members of the public. Its posts on Twitter have reached 360,000 people and the Readyscotland app has been downloaded more than 2,000 times. Lots of useful information on how we can all take an hour to prepare for winter is available at Readyscotland.org.” (see below)
Take an hour to get ready for winter and all kinds of severe weather
Severe weather can strike at any time so taking action now will serve you well in winter, and all year round.
In the last few years, we’ve seen it all – snow, floods and strong winds. And it doesn’t take much for it to impact on our daily lives. Like getting stuck indoors for a few days, or losing your phone communication, power or water supply.
Severe weather can cause a range of problems – but you can be ready for them. By doing a few small things now, you can save yourself a lot of trouble later on.
You can also do your bit to help out in your community.
In this section, you will find information and useful tips on how to prepare:
For more information on the opinion of the Scottish general public on preparing for emergencies, please refer to the latest edition of the Emergency Preparedness Survey.
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