When do we grit?

A dedicated team of council officers decide what to do in response to forecasts of cold weather.

Duty officers monitor road and weather conditions around the clock during the winter, analysing all the information they get. This helps them to decide when to grit the roads.

The information available to the duty officer includes a special weather forecast and up to the minute advice from MeteoGroup UK on conditions in the West Midlands.

The council also has 5 weather stations around the City and shares information from 16 more weather stations owned by neighbouring councils.

When information shows that wintry conditions will affect our roads, the gritters
are called into action.