Snow arrives in North East as Shropshire hit by first frost
Shropshire woke to the first frost of the winter today, but escaped the worst of the bad weather which left a blanket of snow across Scotland and the North East of England.
Gritting lorries were sent out across the county for the first time this season during the night, as temperatures plunged to -2C (28F).
Local authorities have expanded their salt supplies to ensure there is no repeat of the shortage which caused chaos on roads last year.
Councils across England and Wales have stockpiled 1.3 million tonnes – enough to fill more than 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools and twice as much as was used last winter.
Simon Alton, a spokes-man for Shropshire Council, said: "We did some pre-salting in certain areas last night, and are monitoring the situation closely.
"We have 23,000 tonnes of grit ready for this winter compared to 21,000 this time last year."
Russell Griffin, a spokes-man for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We expected temperatures to drop below freezing last night and so we sent out the gritters for the first time this winter to salt the agreed network."
Met Office spokesman Charlie Powell said nearly an inch of snow (2cms) fell around Northumberland and Lincolnshire, while some parts of Scotland saw as much as 2ins (5cms), forcing several roads to close.
