Snow warning for South of England

Snow has fallen in parts of the South. Temperatures fell overnight and some areas have seen a light dusting

So far there has been no disruption or reports of school closures

However, the Met Office has issued a weather warning for wintry showers for the South and South East

People across the Thames Valley are being warned that travelling conditions in the morning could be treacherous. Tonight temperatures are set to fall to the lowest level this winter with ice, sleet and snow showers all expected across parts of Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. Our councils are reassuring us the gritters are on standby and drivers are being urged to delay their journeys if the weather conditions become severe. In January 2013 parts ot the Thames Valley were brought to a standstill when heavy snow hit. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire were among the worst hit areas. Kate Bunkall reports.

With a mix of winter weather forecast over the next few days, the County Council’s highways teams are ready to keep the roads clear and Hampshire moving.

According to the forecasters, the north west of Hampshire may see snow on higher ground tomorrow morning. In addition, most areas of the county will see heavy rain throughout tomorrow which may result in some localised surface water flooding, and also strong winds, particularly along the coast, that may bring down trees. Ice is likely to form in the early hours of Wednesday morning across the county.

Salting vehicles will start at 9pm tonight treating all priority one routes which include A roads, some B roads, major bus routes, roads to major emergency services, large schools and areas of high traffic concentration.

Extra highways crews are on standby, including arboriculture teams who can deal with fallen trees on the roads throughout the day and night. Stocks of filled sandbags are ready to be deployed onto the highway network to keep water off the roads if need be, and vehicles will remain on standby through the night for potential additional salt spreading on priority one routes to tackle icy or snowy conditions.

Hampshire’s highways teams are on full alert from October to the end of April, ready to deal with wintry road conditions monitoring air and road conditions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

West Sussex County Council is ready to swing into action at any point should temperatures plummet and bring snow or ice to the roads.

The Met Office is forecasting the possibility of snow falling on higher ground and ice forming in some parts of the county on Tuesday evening from 6pm.

The County Council can call upon a fleet of 25 gritters to keep the roads safe during spells of severe weather.

So far this winter our gritters have already:

• Gone out to salt West Sussex roads on 17 separate runs;

• Salted 17,000 miles of the county’s road network;

• Used 2,250 tons of salt.

Contractor Balfour Beatty has stockpiled 10,500 tonnes of salt at the County Council depots in Drayton, Clapham and Jobs Lane, near Hickstead in preparation for bad weather.

County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Pieter Montyn, said: “We are fully prepared for any cold weather and ready to go.

“Our priority is to keep major routes treated and passable during severe weather.

“We constantly monitor the weather conditions and as soon as we see road surface temperatures getting towards zero, we make arrangements.”

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for the South with the possibility that snow may hit the region this week.

A warning has been issued from 1800 Tuesday to 0900 Wednesday.

Hail, sleet and snow showers could hit Oxfordshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Berkshire.

The snow is expected to hit the Chilterns and areas of Wiltshire first.

You can view the latest from the Met Office here