UKH

I might be driving up to Scotland tomorrow (20 miles east of Lockerbie) but the met office is giving amber warnings for ice, saying there's going to be freezing rain. I'll be on the M6 and then the A74 and the A701 all the way but the timing is bad, I'll be in the rain all the way. The roads will be gritted, do you think this is enough to stoip ice forming or would freezing rain overwhelm it?

Cheers

Problem is that grit lowers the freezing temperature of water, which stops wet roads freezing.

Tomorrow it's predicted the rain will hit dry but frozen roads. If the first bit of rain washes the grit off subsequent rain will freeze as soon as it hits.

Take it very stready. Not predicted to hit Cumbria till around noon.

OK thanks. Sounds a bit dodgy I might delay until Sunday. Will that happen even on a motorway? I always thought motorways would be fine in almost everything but I suppose you can't do much if the rain is freezing on contact.

I remember it happening in the south about 15 years ago.  The dual carriage way A3 ran past where I lived, and despite gritting it turned into an ice rink with many accidents, and reports of people getting out of their crashed cars and falling over trying to walk to the side of the road. 

This was 2012:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wear-16952926

The M1 last November/December was under 3" of surprise snow one Sunday morning, which predictably caused absolute chaos. I wouldn't count on motorways always being safe and reliable! The same morning the A5 was a skating rink - which caused some lack of amusement with a couple of cars pulling out in front of me then either immediately fishtailing, or almost causing an accident by virtue of me not being able to brake sharply enough to mitigate their stupidity.

It only takes one crash to stop the flow of traffic, and then ice or snow builds up unhindered.  Then a few crapbag cars fail to start (says the poster who just found out his battery wasn’t ready for winter) and you end up with thousands of people benighted...

I think I'll go up Sunday then. I usually ignore met office amber warnings for outdoor stuff but I've done no winter driving so I'll listen to this one.

Thanks everyone

Remember the freezing rain is also on your windshield, wipers etc

We should have compulsory winter tyres for this stuff like Switzerland and Italy. Not quite a magic solution but you salvage a bit of grip that way.

That's happened in Sheffield, with people making their way across roads sitting on their bums to not fall over. It can be a treacherous situation.  Mildly amusingly, somebody my family knows slid down hill sitting down backwards.  

Power lines can be brought down by freezing rain build up on lines, so another road hazard.

Definitely not magic for freezing rain causing black ice. Otherwise, yes  useful. 

For walking in such conditions yaxtrax are a godsend. 

I delayed by a day and I'm glad I did! Thanks for the advice.

Lots of trouble with potholes though! Even the main roads through the highlands are really bad.