And you can follow their progress – in real time – on our dedicated gritter tracking map.

Local schoolchildren were invited to name our gritters over the past couple of years, and thanks to the map you can now follow the likes of Gritter Thunberg, Lewis Caploughdi, Salt Disnae, Oh Plougher of Scotland and Spready Mercury as they move around the area.

Chair of the council’s Community and Enterprise Resources Committee, Councillor Robert Brown, said: “This prolonged period of extremely cold weather is very difficult for many people and brings with it a number of challenges.

“The map is a fun way to see the progress of our gritters but does of course have an important message.

“Our teams are out there in some of the harshest conditions, making sure the network is as safe as it can be.

“They deserve a huge thanks from us all for their dedication, hard work and professionalism.”

When snow or ice is forecast, we grit 49% of our road network including all A-class roads and important access roads (e.g. hospitals, fire stations, isolated communities and schools. Typically, councils grit 43% of their networks, so we do more than the average.  We also tackle footways in our main town centres when snow or ice is forecast and other routes as resources permit. We understand that many people would like to see every road and footway being gritted, however this is not possible due to resource limitations, and no council is able to do this. 

Every year the council use thousands of tonnes of salt and we now hold approximately five times the stock we held nine years ago. National salt shortages of the relatively recent past have shown that all councils must be well prepared.

We have more than 150 winter road workers with access to our fleet of 37 gritters, one snowblower, 12 footpath tractors and five loaders to help them salt the roads, clear snow and keep roads and footpaths in as safe a condition as resources permit. We also rely on the assistance of many colleagues in Land Services and mobilise farmers and contractors to assist when necessary.