November 2024
The winter months can be difficult for many of us, with the colder weather and shorter daylight hours affecting everything from our finances to our feelings.
We're putting together a series of special edition 'winter support and wellbeing' newsletters to share information and advice to help you and your family stay well, warm, happy and safe this winter.
This one is about travelling safely around the county when there is a risk of ice, snow, floods and fallen trees.
We all need to take extra care over the winter months to ensure that everyone can travel safely on Devon’s roads. With less daylight and greater chances of poor weather, conditions are more hazardous at this time of year.
Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and horse riders can make themselves more visible to passing vehicles by wearing bright, fluorescent and reflective clothing.
Motorists can help by reducing their speed and only overtaking when it is safe to do so, passing slowly and allowing plenty of room.
Winter weather can make roads treacherous and with over 90 per cent of all crashes attributed to human error, the real key to driving in winter is to drive with due care for the conditions.
It's important to make sure that your car is ready for winter. Well-maintained tyres are vital to give you traction and grip on icy, wet surfaces. Check your wiper blades and screen wash too as in winter your windscreen can get a very dirty from rain, snow, ice and road salt.
Before you set off, you’ll need to make sure there's no mist, ice or snow obscuring your windscreen, windows and mirrors. Not doing so can impede your vision while driving, which means you will be driving illegally.
It can be difficult to see clearly when it's raining, snowing or foggy, so use dipped headlights and watch out for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. The low winter sun can also cause glare on the windscreen, so use sunglasses or your sun visor.
Many drivers underestimate the slipperiness of the road when wet. Research suggests braking distances can be doubled with rain and multiplied by 10 on snow or ice, so reduce your speed and leave more space between you and the vehicle in front.
Don't assume a road has been salted. Our primary salting network covers 20 per cent of Devon's roads, but this means that 80 per cent of roads are not routinely salted. Rain will wash salt off roads leaving them prone to ice, and in extreme cold even salting will not stop ice from forming.
Never drive through floodwater or swollen flowing water, you don’t know how deep it is. Vehicles can become stuck and even swept away in just 30cm of flowing water. And if it is windy, beware of strong gusts and debris on the road.
If driving conditions are bad, allow extra time for your journey. Please also think about whether you really need to travel, and if you do, consider making your journey by rail or bus.
More information about how you can help keep Devon’s roads safe in winter is available on our website.
The colder, wetter weather can make cycling more challenging but that doesn't mean you need to put your bike away.
During winter months, we are de-icing cycling paths in the county’s biggest city to support active travel. We first began a trial of gritting Exeter’s main cycle routes in winter 2021, and have since extended the scheme to over 14 miles of trails across the city where more than 1,000 daily trips take place as well as areas that have connectivity with roads.
Light levels are lower during the day in the winter months, so wearing bright, light coloured, or hi-vis clothing means you're more likely to be seen by other road users. When cycling at night you're legally required to have a white front light and a red rear light which must be clean and working properly. Reflectors should also be fitted to pedals and the rear of your bike.
Icy or slushy conditions can be dangerous, so if you slow down, you’ll be more able to see and avoid any patches more easily. Like cars, stopping distances on a bike increase when its wet or icy, so apply both brakes smoothly to avoid locking the wheels, and make sure you've done all of your braking before you start cornering.
Remember, if rain is heavy, the wind is howling, the roads are icy, or you just don’t fancy cycling, then travel another way. The most important thing is for you to be safe and feel happy!
Whether you’re a first-time rider or a regular cyclist looking to improve your skills, we have free cycle training sessions on offer for children and adults in Devon.
If you are worried about driving during winter weather, public transport can help you get where you need to go.
Our primary salting network includes the bus loop of Park and Ride sites and bus routes with a service interval of at least 15 minutes within any one hour of the day, in one direction of travel or where a combination of multiple bus services meets this criteria.
Where problems have been identified on routes with a service interval of at least 30 minutes within any one hour of the day, we include them on our secondary salting network.
We also grit main highway access to mainline and branch line railway stations.
  Grit bins
We provide 3,500 grit bins at known trouble-spots such as steep hills and frost hollows on roads that are not normally treated by our gritters. It is so that communities can help keep roads and pavements in their area free from ice.
The grit in these bins must only be used to treat public roads and pavements, not private property, such as driveways.
Careful consideration has been given to where these bins are located, including the proximity to major routes, traffic speed and volumes and the particular gradient or bends of the road.
We refill them when we are made aware that they are empty, so please report an empty bin to us via our website. You can also report a damaged bin or a bin with contents that are unusable. Alternatively, you can contact the Roads and Transport team on 0345 155 1004. You will need to provide the location and, if there is a label inside the bin lid, please also provide the reference number.
Our snow warden scheme continues to provide additional support for communities as part of our winter self-help scheme.
The 325 volunteer snow wardens across the county treat their priority routes during prolonged spells of severe weather.
Find out more about Devon’s snow warden scheme on our communities webpages or contact Parish Council representatives who can liaise with their local Neighbourhood Highway Officer.
 Ready, spready, go!
Ahead of winter our gritting depots across the county are fully stocked with around 24,000 tonnes of salt ready for our fleet of 37 frontline gritters. We also have 10 reserve gritters and other various equipment for snow clearance.
When we salt
Salting is usually carried out when roads are forecast to be at, or below, freezing temperature, or when snow is forecast.
The decision to call our gritters into action is based on road temperatures, not air temperatures, and our Network Operations Control Centre (NOCC), which runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, is fully equipped to monitor the effects of winter weather on our roads. Radar and satellite images are used to track rain and cloud cover across the county, and we have close links with our specialised weather forecasters.
The systems at the control centre also link to our network of 38 roadside ice detectors, at strategic locations across the county, which provide live information that helps us predict when ice and snow may occur. This means that we can quickly identify and treat major roads on our salting routes that are freezing and direct gritters to the worst affected areas.
Where we salt
We can't salt all roads in Devon as this would be an enormous and costly task.
Motorway and trunk roads are the responsibility of National Highways, so we don't salt those either.
But we do salt the 2,650 kilometres (1,650 miles) of major routes where the majority of vehicles travel, as well as access points to emergency services such as hospitals and fire stations, railways, airports and secondary schools. This is known as our primary salting network, and covers 20 per cent of Devon's roads.
We are also continuing a trial to treat some of Exeter’s busiest cycle routes to help people to use active travel all year round.
However, please don't presume a road has been treated, even if it's on a salting route. Rain may occasionally delay treatment leaving roads liable to freezing until they are salted. And in the case of snow, it takes time and traffic for salt to melt it.
Details of our salting routes can be found on our website.
It's a good idea to think about what actions you can take to protect yourself from flooding as it can happen very quickly and the effects can be devastating.
Visit the Government's website to check for the risk of flood in your area. If your home or business is at risk of flooding, you can sign up for free flood warnings from the Environment Agency.
In the event of flooding, you can speak to specially trained Flood Support Officers 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188. They can offer you immediate advice on flood risk, and what to do before, during and after a flood.
Read our Flood Action Week special edition newsletter to help you prepare for potential flooding and know what to do if you are flooded.
 Reporting problems
The best way to report any problems on our roads is through our website. You will be given a reference number so you can track the progress of the problem you report.
If you are reporting an emergency on the highway that requires immediate attention (something that is very likely to present an imminent threat to life or serious injury or serious damage to property), please call us on 0345 155 1004.
National Highways look after the M5 motorway and trunk roads in Devon – they can be contacted on 0300 123 5000.
Our Network Operations Control Centre (NOCC) team regularly post updates on social media with the latest travel information and advice. You can follow Devon Alert on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.
School closure information is available on our website, but please also refer to your school’s website for further details on individual school arrangements.
Sign up to our regular 'Connect Me' newsletters to have the latest information, advice and guidance delivered straight to your inbox.
More from our winter support and wellbeing series
As part of our 'winter support and wellbeing' series, we sent subscribers a special edition newsletter about the things you can do to look after your physical and mental health during the colder months. If you missed it in your inbox you can read it online here.
Coming up... our next newsletter in the series is about help with the cost of living, because if you don’t have enough money to live on, it's important to make sure you know what support is available. Look out for it in your inbox next week!
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