TRAVEL: Interactive map shows location of every gritter in North Yorkshire

The county’s gritting crews are on call 24 hours a day throughout the winter months, ready to treat roads whenever needed, often being out on the road from 5am.

The teams, provided by NY Highways, the highways maintenance company set up by North Yorkshire County Council, treat priority routes around the county.

Details of the county’s gritting operation can be found at www.northyorks.gov.uk/road-gritting.

This gives access to an interactive map, which shows the priority one and two routes and where gritters have been in the previous ten hours.

It also provides access to 27 roadside cameras, which relay live images of conditions on key routes around the county to help people with journey planning.

The county has seven primary highways depots plus satellite depots around the county. Its salt barns have capacity for about 55,000 tonnes of salt, which is bought locally from Boulby Potash Mine.

There are also 8,000 salt heaps and bins around the county.

The team is supported by about 100 farming contractors, who help to keep the roads clear in their locations during more challenging conditions.

The size of North Yorkshire’s road network means priority is given to keeping the main routes open.

Priority 1 routes connect or go through the county’s towns and are cleared before moving on to priority 2 routes, which give access to smaller communities.

During gritting operations, updates are posted on the county council’s Twitter account and Facebook page.

Follow @northyorkscc or #nygrit and https://www.facebook.com/northyorkscc