Maybe the forecast was for 2'C and the CC would have got plenty of stick if they hadn't gritted and an accident occurred. I'm sure they are under pressure to keep costs down and only grit when necessary. They are reliant on the weather forecast and then grit to a set of criteria. Down here in Hampshire there's a map of which roads get treated and when.

As a window cleaner at this time of year, i can certainly confirm that the temperature forecast is often wrong. Whether or not any rain is likely, well that is bad enough during the summer months, but at this time of year i am also relying on the forecast to tell me if the temperature is going to be too cold, i.e, my water is going to freeze up either on the glass or in the hose on the cold ground. For example, on Saturday, the temperature forecast for where i was working at the time i planned to start was +1 but when i pulled up at my first customer, the display on my van said -2.5.

So yes, that is probably the case, they probably make the decision based on what the forecast says, plus or minus 3 or 4 degrees.

I quite agree - it can make a decent difference to where the temperature is taken, and frost hollows on routes can easily mean the road surface temperature dips several degrees below that of the surrounding stretches of road. A car's sensor is liekly not that accurate either, especially as it's in proximity to the engine, etc.

And, of course, weather forecasting, even in today's computer-modelled world, is still not that accurate. Better to be safe than sorry.

I'd cut the gritters some slack.

There's a good reason why the frost snowflake thingy on my car shows at 4' and below.

OK, so that's the air temperature around the sensor. Let's pretend it's not occasionally bamboozled by heat from cabin, engine, sunlight or whatever; 4' is true here/now a metre or so above tarmac.

Down that hill by the canal is a frost pocket. Even though true temperature at sensor is now 2' down on the road surface it's just freezing.......

In the USA there are signs which say "Bridge freezes before other parts of road", which makes sense as cold air gets at both top and underside.

I must drive different roads to everyone else, for years now during warm spells during winter (which we're nowhere near yet) i've driven on salty mush on warm for days roads which is as lethal a surface as any, especially in the evening when the salt attracts the damp.

The major roads such as motorways need gritting far less than currently happens, it's a complete waste and using up valuable stocks of salt which should be kept for those odd times when we know a really cold snap is on the way, especially after rain which clears previous salting anyway.

Obviously i don't have the faith in the system that others do, poking ones head out the door judging which way the wind is blowing plus its chill and the conditions of the sky has worked for me for many years now, seldom have the roads been much different to what i anticipated when i went out early hours.

I was driving a hire car in Sweden last week. It barely got above freezing for five days, but they don't bother with salt, they use only grit, (and everyone has winter tyres or better still studded ones).

They generally drive a lot more sensible than what I witness in the UK.

I wish it were more scientific. There are many mornings when it is bone dry and there is not enough moisture around to form ice, gritting in these conditions is pointless. But I doubt it's practical to implement, hence the massive over the top approach.It actually makes the roads slippier in many circumstances as salt being hygroscopic, hangs into the moisture preventing the road from drying out. Ask any biker about the pros and mainly cons of salting! I'm in agreement GB in this one!

As discussed in detail on this posting, grit is not infallible, it doesnt agree with car metals, and it accelerates road erosion.

Make all season tyres the default on all new cars, and compulsory from 1st Nov - March. And stand the gritters down.

We have gritters now, yet umpteen cars skid and crash through winter, away from gritted roads. Wearing the right boots could dramatically lower the collision and disruption impact

Also, how does it affect the natural habitat when it is washed through drains and into waterways.

I asked that question some time ago. Apparently, 'not significantly' was the reply.