Preparing For Cold Weather

City of York Council says that it is is supporting Public Health England’s Cold Weather Plan which looks at ways of reducing unnecessary deaths and illness this winter.

click to access

click to access

That’s a bit rich coming from a Council that has just decided to scrap 2/3 of the city’s self help salt bins and take around 30 miles of road off the gritting schedules!

Alternative view

They say that there are between 2000 and 2500 excess winter deaths each year in Yorkshire and Humber, many of which are preventable.

The Cold Weather Plan aims to prevent avoidable harm to people’s health by highlighting the negative health effects cold weather can have whilst enabling people to prepare and respond appropriately.

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Updates…. Gritting, Salt bins, keeping warm, energy prices.

Gritter

You can find out when the gritter is out spreading salt on the roads by following them on “twitter”. Remember though that Labour have taken a number of roads in York off the gritting schedule this year.

Salt bins going

Labour are currently removing most of the local salt bins. If the going gets icy try these

Staying upright: Sticky Feet

Sticky feet

Sticky feet

Well into my adult life I finally got round to trying out slip-on snow grips for my shoes, and these work a wonder. They are rather fiddly to put on (and I would certainly recommend erring on the order of buying a larger rather than smaller size), but once on my trainers they turned slipping and sliding into easy walking. Given the very impressive amounts of grip added by these I highly recommend them if you are wearing shoes or trainers. If you are wearing boots, however, I suspect even the largest size would struggle to fit properly over the toes. You can buy the Sticky Feet slip-on grips for ice and snow here.

 Keeping warm

Radflek

Radflek


Staying warm: Radflex radiator sheets As someone with three radiators against external walls, I’ve become a great fan of the Radflek reflector sheets. They are very easy to install – with little skill beyond the ability to use scissors required – and reflect heat back into your home rather than having it escape via the external wall. The ease of installation appeals to my lack of DIY skills but also makes them suitable for use in rented property – giving even short-term tenants a practical extra insulation option beyond nagging their landlord to do better. You can buy Radflek sheets from Amazon here.

Energy prices

We’ve found OVO one of the most reliable power supply companies. . Read their views  here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24728992 Contact them here