West Midlands gritters are out as snow arrives
Gritters were on the streets of the Black Country and Staffordshire today as the first flakes of snow fell.
The Met Office says more snow could come tomorrow and be heavy and persistent in patches on Monday.
Temperatures will drop as low as -2C (28F) tonight as cold air from Eastern Europe moves in.
Councils across the region were sending out gritters today as sleet and light snow started to fall.
Wolverhampton has 10 gritters and has 4,200 tons in stock. Dudley 10 gritters ready to treat 292 miles of highways across eight main routes while Sandwell has nine gritters ready to treat around 250 miles of roads.
A fleet of seven gritters are on standby at the Walsall Council depot in Apex Road, Brownhills, where 3,500 tons are being stored. And Staffordshire has 55 gritters and 60 snow ploughs. It has 24,000 left for the rest of the winter.
Councils were today speaking to the Met Office for updates and using sensors embedded in roads to check temperatures. Up to two inches is expected to settle in parts of the UK, with east of England and the north expected worst hit.
