Why gritters are on the roads, despite warm weather

Suffolk Highways has a fleet of 38 gritter lorries and 90 drivers

A councillor has revealed why gritter lorries tasked with keeping roads free of ice and snow during winter have already been spotted across the county.

The sight of Suffolk Highways' bright yellow lorries awakening from their hibernation to pepper the roads with salt is a familiar one every year.

But with temperatures across the UK still far from freezing, and following the warmest Bonfire Night on record, why are the HGVs already being seen out and about?

Paul West, Suffolk County Council's cabinet member for operational highways told BBC Suffolk there was "no need to panic", citing training and testing as the reasons behind their early emergence.

"We've got a pool of 90 gritter drivers and 30 of them are either new or coming back to the service, so they are out on training runs, which happens every year," he said.

"There will be training runs where a little bit of grit is spread and there are also a few dry runs, where we are testing the kit.

"So, the simple reason is, we are getting ready for the cold snap."

Some of the lorries have names which are a play on words, such as Spread Sheeran

According to BBC Weather, the current mild temperatures are expected to continue throughout this week, with some parts of Suffolk feeling highs of 16C (61F).

But when that cold snap does take hold and temperatures of about 1C (34F) or lower set in, Suffolk Highways will have more than 20,000 tonnes of salt "ready and waiting" to be spread.

It will be distributed across the department's fleet of 38 vehicles - some of which have nicknames such as Spread Sheeran and Gritty Gritty Bang Bang.

"It is one of those things that you hope you don't have to use, because nobody wants freezing cold weather apart from perhaps at Christmas when it might look nice," added West.

"And it of course costs money, so we'd much prefer not to do it, but we are ready to go as and when the temperatures drop."