[C]umbria County Council highways teams are working flat out around the clock to keep Cumbria moving during the current spell of heavy snowfalls and freezing temperatures.
The county council’s gritter crews worked throughout Tuesday night to treat priority routes in areas of the county, including Penrith, Alston, Kirkby Stephen, Carlisle and Brampton routes, where heavy snowfall was forecast.
Gritting also took place throughout the night on the A591 between Keswick and Ambleside and this work is continuing today.
The council’s full fleet of 33 gritters are out on the road network today (Wednesday) clearing snow and treating priority routes throughout Cumbria. Further treatments are planned on many priority routes overnight.
A number of high level roads and passes are currently closed due to heavy snow and drifting, including A686 at Hartside. Gritting crews are working today to make this road safe to reopen.
Emergency road closures are also in place due to adverse weather conditions on Corney Fell, Cold Fell, Birker Fell, Hardknott Pass, Honister Pass and Newlands Pass.
A spokesperson for Cumbria County Council said: “Our gritting crews have been working tirelessly around the clock to treat Cumbria’s roads and that work will continue today and tonight (Wednesday). The county’s road network has been severely affected by the weather conditions and we would advise people to avoid travelling until the conditions improve.”
