A weather warning for ice has been issued for the Harrogate district as sub-zero temperatures loom.

The warning is in force from 6pm tomorrow until noon on Thursday.

The Met Office has warned “some disruption is likely due to icy surfaces” on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths.

The district has had remarkably little ice so far this winter.

Temperatures are expected to fall slightly below freezing tonight and then plunge to minus three degrees centigrade on the next few nights. They will struggle to rise much above freezing even during the day and light snow could fall on Friday and Saturday.

Temperatures could fall even lower in more rural areas, such as Greenhow Hill, which is the highest place in the Harrogate district.

Gritters, which operated last night, will be back out on key routes again tonight.

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National Highways has said new high-tech gritters will be in operation across major routes in Yorkshire this winter.

Thirty-seven new vehicles have joined National Highways’ winter fleet this year as part of a national £44m investment.

Motorways and trunk roads in the county are gritted by government-owned National Highways, which was formerly Highways England.

North Yorkshire County Council, which has a winter maintenance service budget of £7.5 million, is responsible for gritting other local routes.

Earlier this year NYCC rejected a call to expand the network of Harrogate district routes it grits each winter.

In addition to the new gritters, National Highways has created two new winter maintenance depots, one just off the A64 at Malton in North Yorkshire and another off the A63 near Newport in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

From Newport, the gritters will salt more than 70 miles of the M62 and A63 from Hull docks to Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire.

Malton will treat 61 miles of the A64 from near the coast at Scarborough to York.

The highways agency says the new gritters:

• can travel at a maximum speed of 50mph when salt spreading – ten miles an hour faster than earlier vehicles
• are the cleanest and most efficient diesel heavy goods vehicles available in the UK
• allow routes to be uploaded directly into the vehicle cockpit so that drivers have the latest information on where and when to salt
• enable drivers to choose the most appropriate treatment in different road conditions.

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Senior Network Planner for Resilience Gordon Thackeray, who heads up National Highways’ winter operations in the region, said:

“We are delighted the rollout of our new state-of-the-art gritting vehicles is complete, with every machine in position and ready for the winter season ahead to help keep our road users safer on the roads, whatever weather conditions we face.

“National Highways always strives to explore and embrace innovation to benefit our road users. These vehicles are environmentally friendly, have cutting-edge technological features and can treat the roads at a higher speed than older models. 

“We now have a total of 58 vehicles ready to be deployed across Yorkshire and the North East and all of them will play their part in helping our autumn and winter operations team, including our drivers, to carry out their vital work over the next few months to treat the road surfaces whenever and wherever it is needed.”

True grit – key North Yorkshire facts 

• The county’s gritters are responsible for one of England’s largest road networks.
• 55,000 tonnes of salt is stocked in preparation for winter and the authority has 14 weather cameras 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.

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.

Read more:

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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.

A team of volunteers hopes to fill more than a thousand sandbags in Harrogate tomorrow.

Harrogate Borough Council keeps a stockpile of around 3,000 sandbags to support communities across the Harrogate district when they’re threatened with flooding.

The recent floods have depleted its stock so the council wants to prepare for future floods by filling up sandbags from 7am at its depot on Claro Road in Harrogate.

During floods in Pateley Bridge in February, some residents reported difficulties in getting hold of sandbags to help protect their properties.

Volunteers will come from Ready for Anything, which is a database of North Yorkshire County Council volunteers that are called upon in times of emergency.

If you are interested in coming along contact Harrogate Borough Council’s emergency planning officer Ash Demaline at ash.demaline@harrogate.gov.uk

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More than 40 requests for extra gritting on North Yorkshire’s huge roads network are set to be rejected despite warnings over “dangerous” conditions and salt bins running empty.

North Yorkshire County Council, which spends about £7m every winter to treat more than half of the county’s 5,753 miles of roads, considers requests for routes to be added or given greater priority on an annual basis.

This year it has received 42 requests from residents, councillors and businesses, but none have been recommended for approval at a meeting on Friday.

These include 14 requests in the Harrogate district, 15 in Richmondshire, seven in Craven and six in Hambleton.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said the authority already treated a large proportion of roads and that routes are rarely added due to the time and costs involved.

However, he added safety and efficiency were always priorities when deciding how to use resources.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:

“An efficient winter gritting service is one of our top priorities.

“We are in a part of the country with some very remote and exposed roads, but we still have got to make sure people can go about their daily lives safely in bad weather conditions.

“We have not often made changes simply because we already treat a bigger proportion of our highways network in a routine winter than any other local authority.

“And of course, we do have to prioritise in order to keep the main roads and bus routes open in periods of bad weather.”

Motorways and trunk roads are the responsibility of Highways England, while the county council looks after all other routes.

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The county council is also responsible for treating pedestrian footpaths and aims to cover all busy shopping areas and main footpaths before 9am in severe weather.

Between October 1 and April 30, road gritters are on call 24 hours a day, while farmer contractors, duty managers and overnight patrols are all on standby when necessary.

Roads are treated with rock salt on a priority basis and where icy and snowy conditions are at their worst.

But some residents believe more roads should be added or given greater priority, with one resident describing Regent Road in Skipton as “dangerous” during bad weather conditions.

They said in a request:

“Regent residents wishing to travel to work are faced with a hazardous task. I would imagine some people will be genuinely fearful for their safety.”

Another resident said salt bins in Harrogate are often running empty, while another claimed cars were abandoned on Kent Road in the town last year due to a lack of gritting.

Councillor Mackenzie added:

“We will always look very carefully at requests, especially if there are concerns about safety on busy routes or travel to school.

“But generally speaking, officers will recommend rejection of a request if there are perfectly good alternative routes for a person to get from A to B safely under the current gritting routes.”

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for snow and ice in the Harrogate district next week.

Weather forecasters predict the snow and ice will hit on Monday and continue until Wednesday.

There is also a yellow warning for ice in the north of the district, covering the likes of Ripon today and tomorrow.

The snow and ice warning is in place from 9pm on Monday until 11.45pm on Wednesday.

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Forecasters have said that snow, with a risk of widespread ice, is likely to push slowly northeast from late Monday.

If the snow and ice does hit on Monday evening then expect travel delays, rural communities being cut off and power cuts.

This latest weather warning for the district comes just over a week after flooding and two weeks after heavy snow.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said this morning:

“A band of rain, locally heavy in places, is likely to push slowly northeast across Wales and England late Monday.

“As this rain comes into contact with cold air in place, it is likely to readily turn to snow across parts of Wales, the Midlands, and later parts of northern England.

“1-4 cm of snow is quite likely away from coasts, with 5-10 cm possible above about 150 metres.”

Gritters are out in force today as the Harrogate district braces itself for a second bout of heavy snow in a week.

Fountains Abbey near Ripon and RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate have already decided to close tomorrow, with the Met Office warning of road closures, stranded vehicles, power cuts and loss of mobile phone coverage.

With heavy snow forecast all day tomorrow (Jan 14), Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, including the deer park will be closed all day for the safety of visitors and staff.
If you've booked to visit tomorrow you should receive a cancellation email shortly.@GHRHarrogate pic.twitter.com/iwPF7JWxWi

— Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, National Trust (@fountainsabbey) January 13, 2021

Unfortunately with more heavy snow forecast in Harrogate tomorrow, RHS Garden Harlow Carr and Garden Centre will be closed on Thurs 14th January.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have paid for tickets, please contact harlowcarr@rhs.org.uk to arrange a refund. pic.twitter.com/oW6oKnTMJI

— RHS Harlow Carr (@RHSHarlowCarr) January 13, 2021

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice is in place until 9pm tomorrow.

Although less severe than amber and red warnings, the Met Office still warns of “possible significant travel disruption”.

Overnight temperatures are forecast to fall as low as minus two degrees centigrade and not rise above freezing until Saturday, when another weather warning — this time for heavy rain — if effective.

A @metoffice yellow #weatherwarning for #snow and #ice in #NorthYorkshire is in place until 9pm tomorrow. Our gritting crews are treating priority roads but, if you must travel, please take extra care.

You can keep up to date with the forecast here ⬇️https://t.co/zHvC8EqeVU pic.twitter.com/02QCYkusKz

— North Yorkshire Council (@northyorksc) January 13, 2021

There are currently no flood warnings in the Harrogate district but they are in place nearby on the River Swale and River Ouse.

The Stray Ferret will provide weather and travel updates throughout the day tomorrow.

Sixteen sheep died when they fell through broken ice on a pond in Burton Leonard yesterday.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the village at 5.30pm, when much of the Harrogate district was covered by ice and snow.

The service’s incident report said:

“A number of crews attended a large quantity of sheep that had wandered on to a frozen pond, causing the ice to break.

“Crews worked to rescue the sheep using two inflatable walkways, raft, lines, lighting, thermal imaging camera and crew power.

“Unfortunately of the 19 sheep rescued, 16 were dead.”

Rising temperatures have seen much of the snow and ice thaw today but many minor roads and pavements remain treacherous.

Weather warnings are in place for snow and ice tonight in the Harrogate district as temperatures are set to plunge to minus four degrees centigrade.

The Met Office warning says some disruption to travel is possible due to icy stretches and snow falling.

North Yorkshire County Council gritters have been out but untreated roads could be hazardous.

The council warned in a tweet today the lockdown could make conditions worse;

“Although we’re gritting roads whenever needed they might still be icy. Salt needs traffic to activate it – less traffic during lockdown means gritting isn’t as effective and icy conditions may last longer than you would expect.”

A yellow warnings is in place from 5pm today until midnight tomorrow. Yellow warnings are less severe than amber and red warnings.

Tonight’s forecast. Credit: Met Office

The district has been in the grip of a cold snap since Christmas, which has seen occasional heavy snowfall in places, such as the A59 at Blubberhouses and Kex Gill.

Although it is forecast to stay cold, temperatures are expected to rise slightly over the weekend, bringing some respite from the freezing conditions.

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The Met Office has issued a weather warning for snow and ice in the Harrogate district from 6pm tonight until 2pm tomorrow.

A yellow warning is in place, which is less severe than amber and red warnings, but nevertheless has potential for disruption.

Temperatures are forecast to fall as low as minus three degrees centigrade, causing widespread frost.

Some wintry showers, including snow, are also forecast — but conditions are unlikely to be anywhere near as bad as they were on Boxing Day evening when the A59 at Blubberhouses and Kex Gill, and nearby roads, were treacherous.

The cold snap is expected to continue into 2021, with temperatures not set to rise above five degrees centigrade at all in the next fortnight.

However, no significant snow showers are forecast after tomorrow.

Read more:

• Treacherous roads in Harrogate district after heavy snowfall
• Image gallery: Harrogate district covered in festive snow