Ready Scotland have shared their winter tips and advice as temperatures drop and the country prepares for the winter weather.
The tips include small steps for preparing homes, families and business for the unexpected and advice on what to do to keep yourself and others in your community safe during emergencies .
Emergency Kit and Household Plans
They recommend that all households build a small ‘emergency kit’ as part of their home emergency plan. The kit helps prepare you for a wide range of emergency situations and can help to minimise the stress or expense that unexpected events can bring.
Here are some of the items that are recommended:
- A battery operated torch and spare batteries
- A battery operated radio and spare batteries
- A mobile phone charger
- Any essential medication, toiletries and a first aid kit
- Supply of bottles water and ready to eat no perishable food
- Blankets
They also recommend that during the winter people put items including: a first aid kit, battery jump leads, a torch and spare batteries, a map, blanket and reflective sign in vehicles as well as having an ice scraper and de-icer, a shovel for snow, warm clothes and boots and some food and a warm drink in a flask. Especially for long journeys.
Advice for dealing with the Cold, Snow and Ice
Snow and ice can disrupt lives in a lot of different ways, from frozen or burst popes to transport disruption and even the risk of hypothermia. Melting snow can also increase the risk of flooding.
In advance of any cold weather and potential snowfall, everyone should make themselves aware of the latest information for their area, and where to check for information on flooding, weather warnings and traffic.
They should also review their household emergency plan and check on vulnerable neighbours and make sure they are aware of the support available.
In cold weather, it’s important to keep as warm as possible wearing layers and keeping at least one room in the house heated, it’s also important that if you are out walking that someone knows your route and when you should reach your destination.
After a covering of snow, everyone should take extra care when cycling, walking and driving as the stopping distance increase ten times in snow and ice, and should avoid going on any frozen waterways.
More advice can be found at https://ready.scot/ with information on Winter preparedness also available on the Winter Updates page of Heartland FM https://www.heartland.scot/winter-updates/ where you can find useful links, community contact information and helpful article.