Highland Council winter road condition and school closure report for Thursday 1 March 2018

1st March 2018

The Amber warning affecting part of Highland, previously until 1800hrs today, has been extended until 1000hrs Friday 2nd March. This is on the basis of the current and predicted ground conditions, with air temperatures remaining below freezing and strong winds leading to drifting.

Details of the weather warnings can be found at: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings#?region=he&date=2018-02-28®ionType=area

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 Thursday 1 March 2018 are as follows:

Caithness and North Sutherland: Main roads are generally all open but side roads are affected by drifting snow. The Lybster to Braemore secondary road is closed due to 6ft drifts. Crews are working on primary routes so there will be a delay in getting to secondary routes today. As at 10:15

South Sutherland: Snow on all routes of between 15cm to 20cm with high winds and drifting up to 7ft in places. All routes are being bladed and treated as necessary . (A897) Helmsdale - Melvich road closed. (A836) Dallhork- Tongue road closed an d the B9176 Struie Road is closed. As at 09:28

Ross and Cromarty: The A835 Ullapool-Ledmore road is affected by drifting snow so a convoy system is in operation. Additional resources have been sent to assist with treatment. Also the C1047 Drumrunie Junction - Achiltibuie is affected by drifting snow and the road here has been closed since last night. Efforts will be made to clear and get the road re-opened. Routes in Easter Ross are affected by drifting snow, especially the C1209 Inver - Tarrell Junction and the B9165 Tarrell to Portmahomack. Today there will be a delayed treatment of secondary routes as all resources focus first on primary routesat. All roads in this area remain passable with care. The Mid Ross routes around Gairloch and Lochcarron are mainly dry with slight covering on higher routes. All are being treated as necessary. As at 09:44

Badenoch and Strathspey: 3 to 4 cms of snow is lying across the area. Drifting on top of packed snow is widespread, with reports of some localised areas have drifts up to 1 metre deep. Roads being treated as necessary. As at 09:35

Nairn: There is a dusting of snow on higher routes and icy patches on lower routes. Roads being treated as necessary.As at 09:36

Inverness: Roads are mainly salty dry/damp with a light dusting of snow overnight on some high roads which we are gritting otherwise no gritting required so far this morning. As at 07:53

Lochaber: Patrols carried out , no action required. As at 08:56

Skye & Lochalsh: Roads are generally dry. Primary routes in Lochalsh are being checked and the odd wet / damp area treated. As at 08:28

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 10.15am this morning there are 9 secondary, 45 primary and 32 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.