The East Riding of Yorkshire Council is issuing suggestions for drivers and pedestrians on managing during the frost and snow that forecasters are warning we face over the next few weeks.
We are providing several ways of getting that information, starting with the guide in our newsletter, Your East Riding, which recently came through your letterbox.
You can use the council’s website, www.eastriding.gov.uk or, for up to the minute information for those Christmas journeys and sales shopping trips around the East Riding, follow https://twitter.com/ER_roads.
This is a busy time of year for this council which has one of the largest areas to cover of just about any authority in the UK.
We will be working 24\7 on the highways, gritting the major roads to keep the East Riding open and on the move. Our advice is to keep to the salted network which can be downloaded from.eastriding.gov.uk/winter
This major network covers about 13,000 kilometres of roads or about 800 miles in old money. It is safer to stick to these roads where you can, even if it means a short detour from icy back roads.
For households one of the main suggestions is to clear snow from your paths soon after it has fallen and before it has time to harden, which makes it more difficult to clear.
Better still, salt or sand the paths before any frost. If you do not have enough salt, try table salt or dishwater salt but keep it away from grass and plants as it can be poisonous to them.
The worst thing you can do is to throw buckets of water over the paths as it can refreeze creating black ice, that invisible cause of far too many accidents.
One final suggestion is to be a good neighbour and check on any elderly or disabled neighbours to make sure they are alright.