Hampshire County Council has said it has enough salt to treat the roads for a 10 day period of the most severe weather conditions – which includes prolonged spells of temperatures below zero.

Councillor Mel Kendal, Executive Member for Environment said: ‘Salt stocks in Hampshire are constantly replenished to keep them full and Amey, our maintenance partner, will be working to keep supplies at maximum levels over the Christmas period.’

Pre-wetted salt is now used in Hampshire which the Council promotes as ‘sticking’ more effectively to the road, requiring around 30% less salt, and being better for the environment. A lorry carries on average five tonnes of rock salt on each salting run.

Roads are salted according to a priority schedule with the busiest treated first – A roads, major bus routes, and roads to major emergency service bases and large schools, and which carry 85 percent of the traffic in Hampshire.

Other routes are salted when there is a prolonged period of below freezing temperatures.

The Council has had salting lorries on alert 24 hours a day since last Thursday (17 December) with teams working non-stop to treat roads.

The problems experienced last night on some of the roads in the county are said to have been due to the combination of heavy rain, sleet and snow followed by freezing temperatures, which meant the salt was being continuously diluted.

With these winter conditions Hampshire County Council’s advice is to travel only if necessary and to make sure it’s safe to do so before setting out. Drivers are reminded to take extra care, to allow more time for the journey than usual, and to avoid heavy braking. The Council also recommends having a blanket, warm clothes, warm refreshments, and a fully charged and working mobile phone in the car.

Have you had any experiences of using the roads during the snow?

Have you been stranded in your car due to the weather?

If you were originally dreaming of a White Christmas, are you still?