Almost a third of Northumberland's fleet of gritters has been upgraded to state-of-the-art machines as the county council prepares for winter.
The council say that its "cutting edge" fleet was ready to "tackle everything that is thrown at them" after nine new gritters replaced older models in the 28-strong fleet.
Furthermore, five new spreaders and ploughs have been fitted to some of the council's 4x4 vehicles, which are placed across the county and can access some of the more difficult-to-reach areas across the length and breadth of the county.
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Outside of the fleet itself, Northumberland's weather stations received an upgrade over the summer, while new ones were also installed. This will allow for a more accurate reading of the conditions, as well as more accurate weather forecasts.
Councillor John Riddle, Cabinet member for Local Services, said: “With thousands of miles of roads in the county, our workforce is always well prepared to meet the challenges of winter weather.
“We’ve over 100 staff dedicated to our winter services operation – tasked with keeping our road network running and residents safe.
“We’ve continued to invest in state-of-the-art equipment which is particularly suited to Northumberland as the geography of our county presents unique challenges where it can be snowing over the tops but bright sunshine at the coast.
“While we don’t yet know what the winter months will bring, our staff and equipment are ready for action.”
The council, along with other bodies such as Northern Powergrid, have been speaking in recent weeks about improvements made to resilience following Storm Arwen last November.
The storm caused devastation last year with weeks-long power cuts along with damage to communications and road networks.
Northumberland County Council's County Emergency Committee met on Wednesday to discuss the latest progress on ongoing work to improve community resilience through the likes of warm hubs, while last week Northern Powergrid met with residents in Rothbury to explain the changes it had made to better respond to similar disasters.
The Met Office has previously said northerly airflows this winter from the Atlantic could 'increase the potential for cold snaps' and bring "some threat of snow and ice, mainly in northern areas" throughout November and December. However, so far November has been warmer than average.
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