Gritters on standby

Gritters on standby as wintry weather blast heads to the region

Cheshire East Council is encouraging residents to be prepared for another spell of 'severe' cold weather after a Met Office alert was issued for the region today (Wednesday).

Conditions are set to become increasingly cold and wintry over the next 24 – 48 hours and remain cold for the rest of the week.

Gritters are on standby, ready to deal with conditions where road temperatures dip below freezing, and the Council would again like people to check in on their friends and neighbours, especially if they are older or if they have heart or breathing problems.

It is worth checking if vulnerable neighbours' homes are warm enough. Living rooms should be heated to 21C and bedrooms to 18C. Information about heating repairs can be found at www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/homerepairs or by ringing 0300 123 5017. Also, ask whether your neighbour has enough food and medicines to prevent them having to go out in very cold or icy weather.

The Met Office's cold weather alert reads: "There is a 90 per cent probability of severe cold weather, icy conditions/heavy snow between noon on Wednesday and noon on Thursday in parts of England. This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services."

It adds that 'cold conditions' will persist for the next few days across England: "Snow showers will affect most areas at times through the rest of this week and over the weekend with locally significant accumulations in places, particularly for hilly areas in the north.

"Showers and overnight frosts also bring the risk of icy stretches forming on untreated surfaces. Strong winds will accentuate the cold feel at times although it is likely to prevent any extremely low overnight minimum temperatures. At this stage, the cold weather looks like it will persist until at least the early part of next week."

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