Gritter crews praised for efforts in 'atrocious' weather in Caithness
Gritter crews and emergency services have been praised for their efforts in tackling the severe weather that led to the northern A9 being closed for much of Thursday, leaving some motorists stranded for hours between Helmsdale and Dunbeath.
Jan McEwan, a Highland councillor for Wick and East Caithness, said: "I would like to express my appreciation for the men driving the gritters in this atrocious weather, which I don’t think anyone expected to last so long.
"Highland Council and BEAR Scotland have been all doing an amazing job, together with the police and ambulance services, as well as help from Dounreay and local farmers.
"All the emergency services have been working tremendously hard for long hours in the cold and blinding snow and we should be very grateful to them."
Gritters were out in force as conditions worsened on a number of routes across the far north after days of heavy snow showers. It was by common consent the heaviest snowfall in Caithness for years, possibly decades.
One resident in the Dunnet area took a picture showing the depth of snow on the road outside his home at about 30 inches.
Councillor McEwan urged the public to be patient over gritting. She also claimed the A9 closure strengthened the case for Caithness being given island status.
"I have been inundated with complaints regarding areas not being gritted," she said. "The gritters can’t be everywhere and I would ask folk to be just a bit patient.
"The A9 in Caithness has been closed and yet again Caithness has become an island. Therefore we should be given the same entitlements as other northern islands with regard to health, maternity, air connectivity and remote allowance to induce families to come and stay here."
Trunk road maintenance firm BEAR Scotland praised the team effort involved in getting the A9 open again.
A spokesperson for BEAR said: "After Police Scotland closed the road for safety reasons our teams, in conjunction with Police Scotland, the local Emergency Liaison Group and Red Cross, did an incredible job of clearing and ploughing the A9, and assisting drivers who were stuck in the snow, in challenging conditions due to the heavy snowfall and drifting snow.
"We had spreaders, tractors and a snowblower from our supply chain partners on site throughout the road closure, constantly working to reopen it as quickly as possible.
"Over the last three days we've had our fleet of 59 winter vehicles and tractor support from supply chain partners out 24/7 to help keep the roads moving."
The A9 north of Helmsdale was shut around noon on Thursday following reports of vehicles becoming stuck.
Rescue efforts were put in place to free the stranded motorists but the route remained closed overnight. Traffic Scotland announced at 4.35am on Friday that the A9 had reopened.
As well as the A9 closure, the B9176 Struie road, the A897 between Melvich and Helmsdale and several stretches of the A836, including Thurso/Castletown and Thurso/Reay, were all shut. So too was the route from Shebster to Thurso in what Highland Council described as "blizzard conditions".
