For the last 10 months I’ve been making enquiries about Southwark Council salt levels. Last Winter during dreadful 1 in 50 year snowy weather the whole UK effectively ran out of salt and many London roads could’nt be cleared. Some climate scientists have predicted the next 10 years will be colder winters and more likely for more snowy winters before returning to trend for rapid global warming.

Southwark salt storage areas have been confirmed to me as full. 950T of salt. Work on increasing this to 1,100T is being considered.

To ensure the salt is kept in a good condition it is kept covered by tarpaulins. Building a permanent structure over these stock piles has been considered – Eurodome or Cover-All– but the costs and time taken to build are not considered worthwhile compared to the small cost of salt wastage. Tarpaulins do feel a bit ‘Heath Robinson’ but do seem effective and certainly the cheapest option.

However, council officers have told me they are examining:

– ‘Dry Store’ a vented flexible covering. a step up from tarpaulins.

– Salt Union (national salt supplier) for a pan London salt distribution scheme.

– ‘Wet Salting’ involving pre wetted finer grade salt which uses less salt, quicker acting and less affected by high winds (a feature of last winter).

– Improving calibration of salt spreaders which would reduce the wastage and make salt go further.

Fingers crossed we don’t have another ‘1 in 50’ snowy winter. But if we do we’ll be better prepared.