Over 855,000 kilos of salt spread on roads; Natural ice skating "a certainty" next week

Since Saturday evening 7 p.m., gritters spread 855,660 kilograms of salt on roadways in the north and east of the country to prevent icy conditions, said infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat. There will be light or moderate frost in the coming days, which means that it will be possible to ice skate "with certainty" on well-maintained natural ice rinks, said Weeronline.

The Rijkswaterstaat trucks mainly gritted the roads on Sunday morning at about 6 a.m., according to a spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat. This was timed because the early morning hours were predicted to be the coldest time of the day.

It was not necessary to spread salt over roadways across the entirety of the country, because the road surface temperature did not fall below 0 degrees Celsius in all regions. Approximately 1.5 kilograms of salt is needed when gritting is required throughout the country, according to the spokesperson.

Gelderland was a questionable case, with temperatures close to the freezing point, and that is why preventive spreading was done there. The municipality of The Hague reports that slippery conditions have been predicted, and that is why gritters have been working there since 10 a.m. to coat main roads and cycle paths with salt.

The spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat did not expect that gritting would be necessary in the coming days because it will probably remain dry. "But we won't be caught off-guard; We will keep a close eye on everything, and if necessary we will take action." He said that from the moment it is decided that gritting is necessary, salt can be present throughout the Netherlands within two hours. It is a "well-oiled machine," he said.

Since October 1, 2023, approximately 24 million kilograms of salt have been spread in the Netherlands by Rijkswaterstaat, and the gritters have covered almost 336,000 kilometers.

Skating on a natural ice rink will be a certainty, says Weeronline

Weather website Weeronline said the Netherlands is at the beginning of a cold, dry and fairly sunny period. It will soon be possible to ice skate on certain well maintained natural ice rinks.

In addition to natural ice rinks, other water areas will freeze over, like flooded meadows, floodplains and ditches. Weeronline warned, the ice in those locations can often be unreliable.

"This is because the water level will slowly drop and this will cause air to end up under the ice instead of water. Because there is quite a bit of wind, ice growth will be challenging on larger water surfaces."

Until Wednesday, it will be cold during the day with values ​​around the freezing point, with light to moderate frost during the overnights. From Thursday, the cloud cover is expected to be more frequent, and temperatures will likely rise above freezing more often.

The overnights will also probably be a bit warmer.