National Highways reiterates advice not to travel unless essential
National Highways has reiterated its advice for road users not to travel unless absolutely essential.
The M25 is heavily affected by around 5cm of snow and stranded vehicles, including jack-knifed lorries, in both directions from junction 23 (Bignells Corner) to junction 27 (Theydon) as well as the M11 northbound between junctions 5 (Loughton) and 7 (Hastingwood).
The A1M between the M25 and Hatfield is also very slow moving.
Gritters were out throughout the day on Sunday (11 December) treating those and other routes across the strategic road network and continue to work throughout the night with snowploughs to reach the worst affected areas and help road users with their journeys.
Traffic Officers are also out across the region dealing with as many incidents as possible.
Bekki Olah, National Highways Duty Operations Manager for the East said:
“We are working hard with our partners in the police and our supply chain to clear the M25 and then the M11 of snow and to get traffic moving. Snow was forecast and we have been gritting continuously all day and have been clearing snow as quickly as possible since 8pm on Sunday evening.
“Unfortunately, whenever there is an incident in these sort of conditions it slows down how quickly we can grit and clear roads, which can lead to other incidents. Our crews are still out there and will work with our partners through the night to clear the road. In the meantime, we would urge people not to drive in Hertfordshire, Essex and South Cambridgeshire unless absolutely necessary and to check traffic conditions before they set out on Monday morning.”
Road users who do decide to venture out are advised to plan ahead and are asked to:
- Slow down – it can take 10 times longer to stop in icy conditions.
- Use a high gear – this will help avoid wheel spin.
- Accelerate gently, using low revs. You may need to take off in second gear to avoid skidding.
- You may need up to 10 times the normal gap between your car and the car in front.
- Try not to brake suddenly – it may lock up your wheels and you could skid further.
- Be extra cautious at road junctions where road markings may not be visible.
The Highway Code provides more information about driving in adverse weather conditions and other information is available about how to prepare for journeys in severe winter weather can be found at https://nationalhighways.co.
People should check traffic conditions before setting off via National Highways regional twitter feeds @HighwaysEast and @HighwaysSEAST or on www.trafficengland.com National Highways’ 24/7 contact centre team is also available to provide up to the minute information on 0300 123 5000.
