As residents woke up on a Sunday morning to Monmouthshire’s first significant snowfall of 2021, council workers reported for duty to keep roads open, to deliver services as normally as possible and ensure people remained safe. Snow falling across the county on the morning of 24th January caused little disruption as the council’s teams dealt with problems efficiently and effectively.
Gritting teams were extremely busy and worked almost continuously with road temperatures below zero for much of the weekend. They treated all scheduled routes as well as town centres to ensure traffic flow, and gritted or cleared snow from a number of school sites. Gritting will continue with some snow and freezing rain forecast before milder and wetter weather arrives on Tuesday – though another very cold spell is expected on the weekend. Highways officers stressed that residents should drive with care, especially as recent floods and heavy rain have caused water to run off fields onto the road network.
Icy conditions into Monday morning presented challenges for the council’s recycling and waste teams in some areas though they aimed to collect from all properties. Meanwhile, Monmouthshire Meals delivered hot food as usual over the weekend with help from an all-terrain vehicle for difficult to reach areas. Similarly, all care and support for the elderly and vulnerable was delivered, and where necessary 4×4 vehicles were deployed.
Monmouthshire’s three household waste and recycling centres at Caerwent, Mitchell Troy and Llanfoist remained open as normal on Sunday and were available for residents with pre-booked slots. However, people who contacted the sites before their journey were advised to remain at home and stay safe rather than take to the roads.
Council Leader Peter Fox said: “I’m very grateful for the reliable and professional manner in which council teams operated over the weekend, especially following their excellent response to the heavy rain brought about by Storm Christoph.”
Residents are advised to stay safe in snow and icy conditions and only drive if necessary. During adverse conditions the council’s Facebook and Twitter social media channels provide information on road and weather situations.