CAMDEN Council has insisted they are on standby for the heavy snow which is predicted for London overnight. The Met Office is predicting heavy snow in London this week with flurries set to continue through to the weekend and a maximum temperat

Tan Parsons

CAMDEN Council has insisted they are on standby for the heavy snow which is predicted for London overnight.

The Met Office is predicting heavy snow in London this week with flurries set to continue through to the weekend and a maximum temperature of only 2C each day.

It follows a long period where arctic conditions have become the everyday norm.

The cold snap began in mid December, with snowfall and ice causing havoc across north London.

Camden Council was heavily criticised at the time for its apparent failure to grit the roads effectively.

But deputy leader Andrew Marshall has vowed to respond with every resource to minimise disruption across the borough.

He said: "Maintenance crews are out tonight pre-gritting main roads, bus routes and other high priority areas, as per our winter plan. We will not grit main pavements tonight but will review the situation at 3am and 7am and ensure we grit them ahead of tomorrow if necessary.

"We will focus on priority pavements in town centres, main roads, and high footfall areas such as outside hospitals, libraries, tube stations and doctors' surgeries."

A council spokeswoman assured people that staff are working around the clock to ensure roads and pavements are gritted, and that there is a 200-strong workforce on standby to deal with the cold weather.

She said: "Gritting teams have been tasked to grit pavements already affected by snow and ice and to regularly monitor both the borough's pavements and weather forecasts to enable us to begin pre-treatment shortly before any snow falls or ice forms."

She added that this is to stop the grit being washed away before heavy snowfalls.

Barnet Council has also prioritised key main roads and public transport routes at the expense of side roads and pavements except for in town centre areas.

In Westminster, council staff are gritting roads as a precautionary measure and paying special attention to pavements.

* Read more in this week's Ham&High, out on Thursday