Farmers and gritters on standby in Derbyshire as snow is set to fall over the weekend

The ‘Beast from the East’ could return on Saturday, February 6 with five days of snow and ice forecast for Chesterfield by the Met Office.

Snow showers are predicted start in Chesterfield tomorrow evening, continuing into the early hours of Sunday through to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Yellow weather warnings for ice and snow are also in place until February 10, which could put drivers at risk of becoming stranded and potential power cuts due to the cold conditions.

Derbyshire County Council said they will continue to monitor the situation so they are ready to respond if the county is blanketed in snow for a second time this week and a local team of farmers and contractors remain on stand-by.

Major roads across Derbyshire such as Snake Pass were forced to closed earlier this week after the white stuff fell overnight on February 2 causing disruptions to roads and schools to shut.

Throughout winter, the council confirmed they provide 24 hour cover to respond to weather conditions, using specialist salting and ploughing vehicles to help clear roads if snow and ice make them impassable.

However the local authority admitted that the current lockdown makes it difficult for gritting to be effective with less cars on the road – as the salt which is laid down needs to be moved around by traffic.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: “During the winter we provide 24 hour cover to respond to weather conditions using a fleet of specialist salting and ploughing vehicles – including a dedicated team of local farmers and other contractors who will be on stand-by this weekend to help keep roads clear if needed.

“We get detailed weather forecasts throughout the day every day alongside information from our own roadside weather stations, day and night, and we’ll continue to monitor the situation so that we’re ready to respond.

“Our aim is to make the roads in Derbyshire as safe as possible for our road users and to minimise any delays caused by bad weather.

"But the rural nature of many of Derbyshire’s roads mean that despite our best efforts some have to close to keep motorists safe, particularly on higher ground.”

“We look after more than 3,000 miles of roads in Derbyshire and more than 1,500 miles of roads are on our gritting routes.

"But spreading salt on the road is only the start of the de-icing process.

"Movement of salt around the road by traffic is needed for gritting to be effective and this is being made more difficult this year with fewer vehicles on the roads during lockdown.

“When it snows, we post regularly on our social media accounts to keep people who live and work in Derbyshire up to date with the latest information which can also be found on our website at derbyshire.gov.uk/latestupdate along with information about gritting routes, images from eight traffic cameras showing conditions at various points across the county, where to find your nearest grit bin and details of when roads were last gritted.”

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