Highland Council winter road condition and school closure report for Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Maps of the Council’s gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting

The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.

Road condition reports by The Highland Council’s Community Services for Wednesday 28 February 2018 are as follows:

Caithness and North Sutherland: All routes affected with snow from a dusting up to 4" with drifting in places. Roads are all being bladed where necessary and 20gm/2 of salt applied. As at 09:40

South Sutherland: There is up to 10cm of snow on most routes and 15cm on higher ground with  heavy snow showers and blowing in places. All routes are being bladed and treated as necessary.As at 08:04

Ross and Cromarty: Easter Ross routes are affected by 2-3 inches of snow with ongoing heavy showers. Roads are being treated and bladed as necessary. In Mid Ross ,including around  Lochcarron and Applecross , there is a light patchy covering across the majority of routes which are being treated and bladed where required. Ullapool and Achiltibuie are affected by heavy persistent showers and drifting snow between 5- 9 inches  been reported. Treatment is ongoing. As at 09:16

Badenoch and Strathspey:  There is 1 to 2cms of snow covering all roads, with locailsed areas of drifting. Roads being treated as necessary. As at 08:24

Nairn: A dusting of snow is covering all roads. Roads being given a precautionary salt treatment as necessary. As at 08:29

Inverness: Roads are mainly dry with patchy grey frost on some low road and a dusting of snow on some high roads. Crews are topping up salt levels on all routes with a light grit this morning. As at 06:54

Lochaber: Patrols are being carried out on all routes but no action required so far. As at 08:51

Highland has the longest road network of any council in Scotland and it is not possible to treat every road at the same time. A priority system is applied to treat the areas in greatest need first.

Trunk roads are gritted by BEAR Scotland (North West) for Transport Scotland.

School Closures:

As at 10am this morning there are 7 secondary, 39 primary, 1 special school and 25 nurseries closed across the Highlands due to the weather conditions

For a list of the school affected and to get updates throughout the day  please visit the school closures website for up-to-date information - https://www.highland.gov.uk/schoolclosures

The page is updated from 7am and cleared each evening by 6pm. Get alerts of closures on Highland Council’s Twitter and Facebook. Or phone 0800 564 2272 to get the latest pre-recorded message from head teachers regarding their school.

Have the school's PIN ready when you call.

-ends-

28 Feb 2018