What is grit?

Grit is rock salt mined from the ground and crushed to form light brown
granules.

If the weather stays dry, after being spread on the roads the salt will begin to turn the familiar white colour.

Wolverhampton gets its grit from the salt mines in Cheshire. The city has a stock of between 2,500 and 3,000 tonnes at the start of winter.

Rock salt works steadily

Rock salt does not act immediately when spread on ice and snow, which is mainly why we grit before ice starts to form.

It works better when traffic crushes the salt granules, spreading the salt over the roads.

This means that on roads with less traffic, the salt may take longer to work fully.