More winter rain, more potholes, road crews warn

Gritting crews have warned that increasingly extreme weather is making it harder to keep roads in good condition, as councils prepare for another winter of freezing temperatures and heavy rain.

"It's fair to say we're seeing more extremes of weather happening now," said Ed Bradford, major contracts programme director at Herefordshire Council.

Highways managers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire said wetter winters were putting growing pressure on road networks, with prolonged rainfall and cold snaps increasing the risk of potholes and other damage.

Bradford said this year's conditions had highlighted the challenge facing councils.

"If I think back to the start of this year for example, I think we had more than 100 days of continuous rainfall," he said.

"It was one of the wettest winters we've ever had, and that has an impact on the roads network because when you get cold weather at the same time, that's when you get potholes appearing."

Earlier this year, the Met Office estimated that, with current levels of global warming, record-breaking wet winters like the one experienced across the UK in 2023-24 have gone from being once-in-80-year events to once-in-20-year events.

Bradford said councils were increasingly having to prepare for more severe and less predictable weather.

"We've invested heavily in maintaining the roads but ultimately, with climate change we are seeing those more extreme events happening."

Herefordshire Council has budgeted more than £1m for winter road maintenance, stocked 6,200 tonnes of salt and has about 50 workers ready to respond if severe weather hits.

The authority is responsible for maintaining about 2,100 miles of roads across the county.

"Sometimes it can get challenging if we get heavy snowfall but the team are well-seasoned in what they do," Bradford said.

"Well-prepared plans are in place and that's what these dry runs are all about."

Worcestershire County Council said it had also spent the summer servicing its gritting fleet and replenishing salt stocks ahead of winter.

"We're all ready to go in the event of sub-zero temperatures," said Chris Riley, the council's highways operations manager.

"Wet weather and freezing weather are the very worst combination in terms of roads deteriorating, but we're well set up to deal with it."

He said winter weather could arrive at either end of the traditional gritting season, which runs from mid-October until mid-April.

"People will remember the Beast from the East for example - that happened in March," Riley said.

"The weather is always subject to change and we've got to keep monitoring it."

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