Ice warning for Aberdeen roads as 'freeze-thaw' effect causes problems

Aberdeen City Council is warning residents the icy conditions on roads and pavements are likely to continue for several days.

The local authority says that despite its full gritting team being out, a freeze-thaw effect caused by current weather conditions is leading to salt being washed away after it has been laid.

Officials say they have used more than 50 per cent of the total salt used throughout last winter so far - and an order of 5,000 extra tonnes of salt has been placed.

Transport spokesperson Councillor Sandra Macdonald says council staff "go above and beyond" to make sure the city’s main roads and pavements are gritted.

She added: "Unfortunately, we cannot grit every road and pavement around the city at the same time so we are asking residents to be understanding, to salt local roads and pavements if they are able to do so.

"The last 10 days have been challenging for our crews with the continuous freeze-thaw effects we’ve experienced however we are using all our available gritting staff resources to us to do as much as we can before it rains again."

The council insists it is working to refill grit bins across the city - and is asking the public not to use these supplies for their own household footpaths and driveways.

There are currently 900 salt bins across Aberdeen, with 20 large grit bins for the public to collect their own salt from. 

The locations of these can be found on the council's website.