Carmarthenshire County Council is continuing to prepare for the impacts that autumn and winter weather conditions can bring. Teams have been working behind the scenes throughout the summer and into autumn to ensure that crews can tackle challenging conditions and keep the highway network safe.

The County Council’s dedicated team of gritter drivers have received training, the gritters and equipment such as snow ploughs have been serviced and test runs carried out along gritting routes. Salt spreaders have also been calibrated to ensure they distribute salt at the correct rate for the road conditions, grit stores have been re-stocked and grit bins have been checked and re-filled where required.

Officers will continue to review forecasts throughout each day until April to decide on the appropriate actions and grit treatment overnight and into each morning for the weather conditions.

The County Council’s Social Care and Social Services teams have also reviewed their winter programmes and contingency arrangements to ensure that service delivery continues wherever possible when challenges conditions arise.

Alongside gritting, snow clearance and attending flooding incidents during difficult weather conditions, Highways Crews routinely respond to fallen trees and branches impacting the carriageway. This includes chainsaw trained operatives carrying out clearance where appropriate, supported by specialist contractors when incidents require additional resources.

Routine safety inspections along highways are carried out throughout the year and following weather events, with monitoring and actions taken to manage damage trees and other issues where appropriate. However, the management and maintenance of privately owned trees is the responsibility of landowners.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure Services Cllr Edward Thomas, said: “Our crews will continue to prioritise urgent incidents during difficult conditions, including highway flooding, fallen trees, road traffic accidents, road closures, and safety-critical issues such as blocked drains, blocked culverts and dangerous potholes.”