Winter Watch

There's talk of snow!  The Countryfile weather forecast hinted about something 'atmospheric' being on the horizon and @MEschoolweather (see here) tweeted a picture today forecasting snow at the beginning of next week.  Winter has been fairly mild so far but a cold snap is rarely far away and some of Reading's residents may find it difficult to stay warm and safe.

I have popped a button top right that links to a leaflet about Winter Watch which gives advice on how to stay warm and what help is available to those at risk.  The picture below will also link to the leaflet.  Please share this information and help keep people warm should temperatures plummet.

Please also remember help for the homeless is also available during very cold weather and you can find out more here.

Grit, urea and the winter plan

Last Thursday was the Transport Users Forum - open to all.  This time there was an excellent presentation on the winter plan Reading Borough Council puts in place for the winter season.  I found it very interesting and, if it weren't for my banana bread and soda bread, I would have popped a post on about it earlier. You can get more information by searching for 'winter gritting' on the council's website.

Here are a few of the facts about the winter plan:

• We have 1200 tonnes of salt in stock at the beginning of the season.
• 40% of the highway network is treated in the event of ivy/snowy weather. It takes 2 hours to complete the primary routes and a further hour for the secondary routes.
• Salt is only effective up to -7C.
• The spread rate of the salt depends on the weather forecast 10g/m2 is the normal amount but they spread 20g/m2 if prolonged icy or snowy weather is forecast.
• They get a forecast at midday then an update at 7 in the evening.  These forecasts help them decide if the gritters are to be sent out.
• If prolonged cold weather or snow is forecast urea is spread in the pedestrianised areas of the town centre. It is either extracted from animal urine or synthetic.  It forms a gel that lasts three days and stops ice forming and snow settling.  If needed it will then be swept away and re-applied.
• There is a new Vaisala weather station outside Battle Library to measure urban road/surface temperature, dewpoint, humidity, air temperature and rainfall to help get more accurate forecast for Reading.  It will be fully operational shortly.

I thought this was CCTV and wondered why it was pointing at the floor!

 All in all a lot of work goes into ensuring the roads of Reading remain safe and usable.  I really do recommend coming along to a Transport Users Forum as the presentations made are very interesting!