We run a winter gritting service to keep our pavements and roads safe in snowy and icy conditions.  

You can also help yourself to grit salt from any of the 159 salt bins across the borough.

How we prioritise roads for gritting

We must prioritise:

  • main roads
  • public transport routes
  • hospital access routes
  • busy hills

In snowy or icy conditions, we appreciate that demand to salt all roads increases. We have a limited number of gritters and drivers and cannot divert them from their priority routes. To do so would result in those priority routes not getting the amount of salt needed to stop ice forming. That would risk parts of the main road network quickly becoming impassable.

Winter service plan

The winter service plan sets out the actions we take during severe winter weather. It includes a list of the location of salt bins in the borough.

View the winter service plan:

Transport for London (TfL) roads

TfL manages London's red routes. Contact TfL about streets and road issues.  

How we salt roads and council estates

Treatments we use are:

  • pre-salting - we use rock salt on the roads to prevent ice from forming during frosty conditions
  • post-salting - we use rock salt to melt ice and snow that has already formed
  • snow removal

On council estates we try to grit or clear slopes and stairways in communal areas where possible.