Highland Council winter road condition and school closure report for Monday, 29 November 2021
Maps of the Council’s gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Road condition reports for Monday, 29 November 2021 are as follows:
Ross and Cromarty East
Posted at 7.17am. Some lingering snow and ice on side roads and higher roads. All routes being patrolled and treated as necessary.
Caithness
Posted 8.08am. Negative RST's (Road Surface Temperatures) on all routes this morning, with some patches of old frozen snow. Also, stretches of ice and frost patches and it is currently snowing on some routes. Treatment is continuing. No issues reported overnight.
Sutherland
Posted at 8.27am. Temperatures blew freezing away from far northwest. Snow cover of up to two inches on higher ground with residual snow elsewhere. Some frosty areas and icy patches. All routes being treated in accordance with policy.
Skye and Lochalsh
Posted at 8.23am. No Planned Action this morning - Positive Road Surface Temperatures, No issues reported overnight.
Lochaber
Posted at 7.55am. Glen Etive, which is an "Other Road" (according to policy) had vehicles stuck yesterday evening 28.11.21. Police called for assistance at 5pm & gritter deployed. Combined effort with Glencoe Mountain Rescue involvement incident cleared by 10pm. All roads treated this morning to action plan with low RST's (Road Surface Temperatures), no other road problems.
Nairn
Posted 8.22am. Negative temperatures throughout the area. All routes being treated. No known overnight issues.
Inverness
Posted at 6.25am. Roads dry/salty damp, still a light covering of old frozen snow between wheel tracks on some high roads.
Badenoch and Strathspey
Posted 8.24am. Negative temperatures throughout the area. Snow showers forecast this morning so all routes being treated. No known overnight issues.
School closures
As of 11.21am this morning the school closures are as follows:
Wick High School: Closed (damage to school building)
Newton Park Primary: Closed (Part of Wick Community Campus)
The school closures page on the Council’s website at: https://www.highland.gov.uk/schoolclosures is updated from 7am and cleared each evening by 6pm.
Get alerts of closures on Highland Council’s Twitter and Facebook. Or phone 0800 564 2272 to get the latest pre-recorded message from head teachers regarding their school. Have the school's PIN ready when you call.
Weekend update:
Highland Council roads operatives were busy during Friday night as they reacted to issues caused by Storm Arwen.
Many of Highland’s roads were affected by ice, blizzard conditions and drifting snow on high ground. The A939 between Grantown on Spey and Bridge of Brown was closed much of the weekend due to wintry weather, but has now reopened. The B9007 Duthill to Glenferness Road was also closed at the weeked, but has now reopened.
All routes were treated by priority as per the Council’s gritting policy. Various higher route roads were closed overnight due to drifting.
A combination of rain, sleet, snow and wind saw a number of roads affected by fallen trees which blocked routes. Most of these were cleared by operatives during the evening and night, where it was deemed safe.
Some fallen trees blocking certain roads overnight were considered unsafe to work and more resources were required for larger trees. These were cleared on Saturday morning when the storm had calmed.
Routes affected by fallen trees in Badenoch and Strathspey included the B9152 Aviemore to Kingussie road, the Ski road and Mullochard Road. Fallen trees and branches were also cleared from the Ross and Cromarty East area.
Saturday saw ice persist on roads in Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey and Lochaber throughout the day and operatives were gritting all weekend. Additional routes were also treated.
Ice was a feature again on Sunday and gritting was carried out throughout the weekend, as per the policy. Roads in Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey and Lochaber were topped up with salt on Sunday.