Hampshire gritters are out in force this afternoon as road surface temperatures in the region drop below freezing.

With temperatures remaining as low as two degrees on Saturday afternoon, Hampshire County Council Highways has warned motorists of the risk of prolonged hoar frost and icy patches on the road.

Members of the highways department will be gritting the county’s roads throughout the day to aid driving amid the plunging temperatures.

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Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, a spokesperson for Hampshire County Council Highways said: “Our gritters are out this afternoon on our priority one salting routes as road surface temperatures drop below freezing with the risk of prolonged hoar frost and icy patches.”

They added: “They’ll be heading out as follows: North – 1pm, Central – 1pm, South – 2pm.”

It comes as temperatures plummeted to below freezing last night with many across the county waking up to frozen windscreens.

Also taking to X, Southampton City Council Highways noted: "Our Gritters will be out from 7pm doing priority routes."