Island Roads made 22 Island-wide gritting runs in what was, by this measure, the mildest winter in the 13 years the company has been responsible for the Island’s highway network.

The majority of the gritting runs were made in the cold snap over Christmas Eve and the New Year when crews were deployed on consecutive days between December 24 and January 10. Over the winter season, just under 370 tonnes of salt was used to keep the network safe and accessible

By way of comparison, during the 2024/25 winter season, our gritters made 40 runs depositing 830 tonnes of salt on the network. That compared to 32 runs using nearly 479 tonnes of salt the previous season.

However, while the temperatures were unusually mild this year, the Island experienced one of the wettest starts to a year on record with the equivalent of six months’ rainfall falling across January and February alone.

Particularly when combined with the freezing weather, this rainfall, as well as providing a flooding risk, created the perfect conditions for potholes to form on the network.

“So, while there have been fewer gritting runs this winter season, there has been no let-up in the workload across the business,” an Island Roads spokesperson said. “Whether through gritting runs or through maintenance work to tackle the potholes caused by the unusually heavy rainfall, it has been yet another very busy winter season.

“I would like to thank our winter maintenance staff for their dedication and hard work over the season – particularly as much of the required gritting took place in very cold temperatures while most people were enjoying the Christmas and New Year period.”

While at the end of the official winter season, Island Roads will continue to monitor forecasts and will be ready to grit the network should there be any unseasonably cold weather.