Warming up for Winter!

This familiar annual event, known as the Winter Parade, ensures the fleet is ready for winter. Every year, the gritters are taken for a test drive of their usual gritting routes, to help the gritter drivers re-familiarise themselves with the vehicles and the routes, as well as testing the safety of the routes.

From October to March, the teams are on standby round-the-clock, ready to tackle plunging temperatures when necessary. This ensures Buckinghamshire's most frequented roads and priority routes are treated, keeping traffic flowing and roads safer from the impact of winter conditions.

Approximately 44 percent of the county's highways network (870 miles) is categorised as a primary route, a significant amount more than other local authority areas. These priority routes are gritted when road surface temperatures – which can be up to 5°C cooler than the air temperature – are predicted to drop below 0.5°C. These temperatures are lower than the air temperatures seen on weather apps and weather forecasts – so gritting will happen even if the air temperatures are predicted to stay above freezing.

Last winter 65 gritting runs were completed covering 54,119 miles, meaning the fleet of gritters covered a greater distance than travelling around the Earth’s equator twice!

Following the parade, the winter fleet are parked up at the 4 depots across Buckinghamshire to wait for the first salting of the season. Whilst snow may not be on the foreseeable forecast, an early sighting of Buckinghamshire's gritters is a sure sign that winter is coming, and the county is being prepared for whatever the weather may have in store.

Thomas Broom, Cabinet Member for Transport, commented:

"I’m sure the public will be pleased to spot the new orange gritting fleet take to the roads of Buckinghamshire, and I urge you all to give the drivers a wave if you see them.”

“Winter driving can be hazardous at times, even when roads are well gritted. Please remember that grit is not a failsafe and just because a road has been gritted this doesn’t mean it won’t still be icy. Road users should drive according to the road conditions and the weather, taking extra care where necessary.”

Thomas added: “Thank you in advance to our expert drivers and winter crews, who are now set to be on call 24 hours a day for the next six months, even over Christmas. They carry out an extremely important job in helping to keep our roads safe over the winter.”

For regular gritting updates, follow @BucksHighways on Facebook and @Bucks_Highways on X.

To find out more about how the council decides when to grit roads, the routes the gritters follow and how you can track where the gritting machines are, visit: www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/winter-roads