HIGHWAYS teams across Gloucestershire are gearing up for snow expected to hit the county tomorrow morning.

Forecasters are predicting light snow will hit the east of the county first from around 4am tomorrow and spread across the west and central parts up to around 11am.

Experts say the heavy rain will turn to sleet on higher ground, which will produce a couple of centimeters of slushy snow. On lower ground only a slight covering of slush is likely.

To tackle this, gritters will be out across the county from 3am tomorrow morning to treat the roads ahead of the snowfall.

Updates will be posted on Twitter via @GlosHighways as the teams set out.

Jenny Wilks, Area Highways Manager, said: “This is likely to be the first real fall of snow we’ve seen this winter, but we’re not expecting more than a couple of centimetres in most areas.

“As temperatures are not expected to get much lower than freezing the snow that does fall should melt fairly quickly.

“People should be aware that driving conditions may be affected so they should take extra care on the roads and check local radio station and Twitter for information on what we’re doing.”

The council is fully stocked up on salt for this winter. With the opening of two new salt domes, stock levels in the county have increased from 9,600 last year to just over 11,000 tonnes this winter.

When bad weather hits, the council treats all A, B and some C roads and routes to emergency services such as hospitals and fire stations.

Gloucestershire County Council works closely with Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils to treat the main shopping areas.