North Yorkshire Council has agreed to pay £171,000 a year on weather services for the county.
The council uses weather forecasting and data to plan highway services, such as gritting.
It awarded three-year contracts to MetDesk and Vaisala in 2018 to provide forecasting and weather stations respectively.
The contracts were renewed for two years in 2021 and the council has now agreed to extend them for a further two years.
Vaisala’s contract was for £114,000 and MetDesk’s was for £57,000.
James Gilroy, team leader for highways asset management at the council, said in a report to councillors, who approved the deals last week:
“The weather forecasts from Metdesk enable an overall winter maintenance plan to be established. The real time data from the Vaisala weather stations allow this plan to be more finely tuned to the situation on the ground.
“Extending the contracts is the lowest cost option and given the current performance of the respective contractors it is a low-risk approach.”
A council photocall at one of the weather stations last year
The report added 10 new solar/wind-powered weather cameras and two new weather stations had been bought at the cost of £200,000 in autumn 2021.
Sixteen original weather stations were also upgraded at a cost of £265,000 “to broaden the coverage we have across the county”.
Met Office among bidders
A council spokesperson said the weather forecast it used “requires more detail that than the standard free to access services”.
They added the services were put out to competitive tender in 2018, when the Met Office was among the bidders.
The report said there are 10 climatic domains within North Yorkshire’, which are defined as areas with similar weather characteristics.
The domains are Northern Dales, Central Dales, Western Dales, Harrogate, Vale of York and Vale of Mowbray, Selby area, North York Moors, Vale of Pickering, Northern Wolds and Howardian Hills, Eastern North York Moors and Coast and Scarborough and Filey.
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Asked why it was necessary to have 27 weather stations in North Yorkshire, the spokesperson said:
“Weather stations are placed across the county and monitor humidity, road temperature, air temperature and wind speed. Some stations have cameras on them, allowing you to see the road conditions. This helps road users to make more informed travel decisions.
“As you know, weather conditions can change rapidly. Having a wider coverage of stations allows us to make more informed and accurate decisions on gritting.”
Greenhow is the highest area around Harrogate. Pic: John Benson
Of the 27 sites, four are located in the Harrogate district, on the A6108 near Masham, the A658 Harrogate bypass, the A59 at Kex Gill and at Greenhow village.
The council is also able to access sites managed by National Highways on the A1(M) near Dishforth.
A list of all the locations in North Yorkshire is available here.
Electric-powered gritters coming to Harrogate district roadsTwo gritters powered by electricity are to join North Yorkshire’s winter fleet to save money and reduce carbon emissions.
The North Yorkshire County Council-owned company NY Highways has bought the gritters, which are supplied by Dorking-based Bucher Municipal.
According to the council, the vehicles have an anticipated fuel saving of up to 20 per cent compared to standard, diesel-powered gritters. It said in a media release:
“The gritting bodies which deploy the salt will run on an electric battery that can charge in just over 30 minutes. The battery will be able to do multiple runs before needing to be recharged.”
North Yorkshire has a 5,753-mile network of roads. The council’s winter gritting programme to maintain key routes lasts from October to April.
Cllr Keane Duncan
Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways and transportation, said:
“The electric-bodied gritters are a first for the council’s winter service delivery.
“Innovation is high on our agenda and it is another way we are showing our commitment to achieving net carbon neutrality by 2030.
“The two gritters don’t have any hydraulics which mean there’s less chance of mechanical failure. This increased reliability is vital when we are against the clock trying to deliver the best winter service that we can.”
Picture shows: From left, Andrew Park and Chris Mitchell of Bucher Municipal, Nigel Smith, head of highway operations at North Yorkshire County Council, Rory Hanrahan and Craig Winter of NY Highways, and Mike Francis, operations manager at NY Highways.
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Calls to grit more Harrogate district roads set to be rejected
Councillors look set to reject calls to grit more roads in the Harrogate district this winter.
North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, meets on Friday to agree its gritting programme from October 1 to April 30.
A report by Barrie Mason, assistant director for highways and transportation at the council, recommends councillors at the meeting approve the same arrangements as last year.
The council has a winter maintenance service budget of £7.5 million. Details of its gritting routes are here.
Motorways and trunk roads in the county, including the A1, A1(M), A66, A66(M), A64, A168 (Dishforth to Thirsk) and A19 (Thirsk to Crathorne) are gritted separately by National Highways.
Each year the council’s business and environmental services committee considers requests for amendments to its gritting routes.
Five have been received from the Harrogate district but Mr Mason said in the report:
“Currently there are no external routes upgrade requests that are supported by officers.”
The only proposed change this year is to include the north Northallerton link road in winter gritting when it opens “as this is commensurate with its network hierarchy”, the report said.
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- New gritter tracker shows which roads in Harrogate district are being treated
- Consultation into Harrogate town council starts today
The 5 roads requested for gritting
The council received five requests from residents, parish councils and local councillors in the Harrogate district to grit additional roads.
They are:
Old Barber in Bilton
A resident said when it snows and is icy it is “very dangerous for elderly people”.
West End, Blubberhouses
A resident said the location has a a number of farms and hamlets with steep gradients and should be gritted.
Wheatlands Road, Harrogate
A local councillor said it is a very steep road and residents “find themselves unable to get vehicles out of the road at all”.
Walton Park, Harrogate
A local councillor said “when it’s icy it’s sometimes difficult to walk across the road never mind traverse the pavements”, adding parents walking down hill to primary school are “at risk in the morning”.
The access road to Heyshaw village in Nidderdale
The parish council said the road “becomes impassable when very icy or snowy” and links to a dairy farm.
New gritter tracker shows which roads in Harrogate district are being treated
An online gritter tracker for North Yorkshire has been launched to help drivers plan their journeys.
The service by North Yorkshire County Council shows people in real time where gritters are being deployed on the authority’s priority routes and where they have been during the preceding 10 hours.
Any gritting will disappear after 10 hours to avoid confusing previous treatments with recent or current ones.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, said:
“The online gritter tracker is a further tool to help people to make informed journey planning decisions with confidence, particularly during wintry conditions. It gives more detail than ever before, allowing people to see where gritters are and which parts of the network have recently been treated.
“This is a bespoke service that has been developed in-house specifically for North Yorkshire. It is no small feat to develop a system to track up to 80 gritters and all the data they generate.
“We are confident that from day one it will provide a useful service to people travelling in the county, but we are keen to hear from those who use it about any refinements that could improve it further.
“By launching it during this winter, we hope to receive feedback on live situations, which we will be able to review over the summer. Ahead of next winter, we will be able to introduce any enhancements to ensure it provides information that is as full and accurate as possible.”
You can view the online tracker here.
The online gritter map showing the roads treated in Harrogate in the previous 10 hours.
True grit – facts about North Yorkshire gritters
- With an annual gritting budget of £6 million, the county council grits 4,440km of road and make 6,687 runs in a typical year. Around 6,287 routes were treated last year.
- The county’s gritters are responsible for one of England’s largest road networks.
- With 86 gritters, 107 farm contractors, five road snowblowers and seven footway snowblowers at its disposal, the county council is able to treat roads between October and April.
- 55,000 tonnes of salt is stocked in preparation for winter and the authority has 14 weather camera set up to keep an eye on the roads.
- Crews are on call 24 hours a day and are usually out at 5am to grit the county’s road network.
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