A fleet of 65 gritters are used to help clear snow and ice from the county's roads during bad weather.

Much of Kent has been left covered in a blanket of snow since yesterday, with the weather set to continue on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It has caused travel chaos - with some roads closed and some trains services out of action.

Schools have also closed and bin collections in some towns have been halted.

To help clear the roads, Kent County Council employs its Winter Service.

There are 65 gritters which will concentrate on 58 primary routes.

This includes access to sites such as hospitals, and Covid testing and vaccination sites.

Among those 65 gritters are four mini ones which can treat narrower roads.

At the start of the winter season in October, KCC ordered 23,000 tonnes of salt and pre ordered an additional 5,000 tones should it be necessary.

Gritter crews - there are approximately 120 of them - work shifts to ensure members are available to respond 24 hours a day for the primary network.

The primary salting routes cover about 30% of roads in Kent, these include all A and B class roads, busy commuter routes, and other roads that can become hazardous in frosty or icy conditions.

To remove the snow, snow ploughs are fitted onto the gritters to plough it from the roads. This is because salt will not melt it, so it has to be removed.

Snow ploughs only work effectively when snow is more than 5cm (2in) deep, they also cannot work on roads that have road humps or similar traffic calming measures.

KCC also has arrangements with approximately 117 farmers covering over 200 routes across the county, who can assist in snow clearance when needed.

The council has 12 snow blowers and can hire extra machinery if needed to.

Salt is used according to road surface temperature, which is different from the air temperature. The council has weather stations located across the county to help measure this.

It is down to Highways England to clear motorways and trunk roads, and Medway Council clears roads in Medway.

Over the weekend, the gritters went out five times and covered 12,930 km. Forty salt bins were also sent to Covid vaccination centres to ensure they could stay open.

KCC says "it may not be possible to clear every road, and some roads may have to be left to thaw naturally".

The authority asks: "If you have to drive, please be extra careful and be prepared should you break down or get stuck."

For more on the Winter Service, visit here.

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