Hounslow Council have confirmed that they will be gritting roads across the borough this evening as temperatures go below freezing. 

Hounslow Highways have said that strategic routes across Hounslow will be gritted from 7pm this evening and that bridges will be hand gritted to make key and popular areas safe for residents. 

The Met Office forecast has temperatures going below freezing on Tuesday 17th January heading into Wednesday 18th January, with a yellow weather warning for ice being in place for the next two days. 

To help with the safety of those going outside, key areas like outside hospitals, schools, and other priority areas will be gritted to help prevent people from slipping over. 

Hounslow Highways said about their gritting efforts on their website: "When making salting decisions we use weather forecasts and data provided by a specialist winter weather forecasting bureau that provides forecasts throughout the winter season.

"The forecasts, which come four times every day, give predictions of the possibility of freezing road temperatures or snow, and the time those conditions may occur. in relation to ice and snow prediction to get the most accurate indications of where and when ice is likely to form.

"We have 6 gritters spreading rock salt to prevent ice forming and we store 2,700 tonnes of salt at our depot in bridge road and replenish stock as the required.

"We grit on principal roads, classified roads and some, but not all bus routes and the routes are designed to cover critical areas such as hospitals, fire and police stations which form the Strategic Routes. 

"We also hand grit bridges when the temperatures drop below a certain level. We can't grit all the roads in the borough because of the time it would take, however our normal gritting routes cover 82 miles."