Warnings for ice and even snow continue to be in place for Southport over the next few days, with the town suffering from the coldest night of the winter so far.
Traffic and transport have been worst hit by the icy conditions and despite the council saying gritters were dispatched across highways, roads remained slippy and pavements were treacherous this morning.
National Rail have warned wintry weather could affect train journeys.
A council spokesperson said “We grit around 470km of roads across Sefton across 8 routes, covering all arterial routes, bus routes and roads into hospitals as well as some footway routes. The gritting routes can be seen at www.sefton.gov.uk/gritting
“Gritting helps prevents the formation of ice at 0°C, but doesn’t prevent snow from settling on the road, and during extended periods of sub-zero temperatures and snowfall the effectiveness of the grit can be diminished.
“Last night some Sefton roads reached as low as minus 7°C, below the temperature at which grit works best, which is down to minus 5°C.
“Traffic helps to break down the salt and disperse it over a wider surface area meaning busier roads tend to clear more quickly. This also means that overnight when there is less traffic the roads can remain icy, and people should take care when driving early in the morning.
“When the weather is at its coldest – often late evening and very early hours of the morning, most people are at home asleep, which is why they often don’t see the gritters.
“Sometimes people spot trucks ‘not gritting’ and these may be on their way to their route or returning to the depot.”