Police issue urgent warning of heavy snow showers and freezing temperatures from Wednesday onwards

Police have taken the unusual step of issuing an urgent weather warning for the South Manchester area with heavy snow forecast from Wednesday.

A GMP spokesman said:”Be prepared, be safe – that’s our advice.  We have received a weather warning stating there is an 80% chance of heavy snow showers, severe cold and icy conditions in our area from Wednesday onwards.”

He added:” Please ensure you have your de-icer and ice scrapers at the ready! You can be prosecuted for driving dangerously with an icy windscreen and poor visibility!”

Trafford Council say there gritters will be out to combat the weather.  On their website they say:”Highway engineers monitor our roadside weather station equipped with both atmospheric and road surface sensors.

“The Met Office use the information gained in conjunction with its own forecast model to prepare daily and updated weather forecasts, enabling our engineers to predict when we need to grit to keep the roads safe.  The service operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout that period. Most of the gritting is carried out in the early hours. ”

“We are responsible for maintaining over 400 miles of roads in Trafford. During periods of snow and ice priority is given to main roads and bus routes, which account for nearly 170 miles of those roads.

• View a list of  highway gritting priorities within Trafford

• View the  five priority gritting routes

The M60 and M56 are the responsibility of the Highways Agency.

The snow and freezing temperatures will last until the weekend with more snow forecast on Saturday.  A Met Office spokesman said:”Cold air originating over the Arctic in Canada will affect the area from Wednesday evening through Thursday. Snow showers are expected to develop from Wednesday evening lasting into Thursday. These combined with strong winds, could lead locally to very poor travel conditions, and disruption to transport due to living and blowing snow.”