By LETTICE BROMOVSKY, NEWS REPORTER
Londoners are being urged to pick up shovels and grit their own streets as the capital braces for a sharp drop in temperatures this week.
A growing number of councils are handing out free salt, hi-vis vests and snow shovels to locals, encouraging them to help clear pavements and residential side streets that officials say they can't get to due as they have to prioritise main roads.
Residents willing to pitch in are being signed up as 'snow angels' and 'winter buddies', schemes that have existed for years but are now under renewed scrutiny amid fresh tax hikes and warnings of stretched local budgets.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued cold health alerts for all of England lasting until the weekend, with 'difficult, slippery conditions' forecast for Tuesday.
The weather is set to turn 'markedly colder' than the mild conditions last week, with the Met Office warning 'harsh frost' is on the way.
Bromley Council, which increased council tax by 4.99 percent, has invited its residents to become 'snow friends' since 2009.
Volunteers are given snow scoops and salt supplied free of charge (subject to availability) to clear residential side streets and pavements, which are not part of the 280-mile priority routes the council grits.
Councils are prioritising main roads to grit but leaving quieter routes to locals
A National Highways worker inspects the huge salt silo at the side of the M62
Their latest recruitment drives come as wet weather and cold Arctic air are expected to bring 'difficult, slippery conditions' to the UK on Tuesday
Its website states that while the council is 'fully prepared' to respond to warnings of snow and ice, 'there is a limit to the scale of the response'.
'This means that, unfortunately, a number of Bromley's residential roads and pavements do not get treated,' it says.
'Snow Friends has been designed to provide a positive solution for snow removal in those streets that are not priority routes.
'It enables residents to work together, under the guidance of the Council, to clear their local residential streets of snow using snow scoops and salt supplied free of charge by the council, subject to availability.'
A YouTube video even demonstrates safe shovelling techniques to avoid back strain.
Council tax covers anything that the council provides as a service, including:
Labour-run Wandsworth Council is offering its residents 50kg sacks of grit and rock salt to clear frozen paths near their homes.
The local authority claims its fleet are facing a 'mammoth task' and would focus on keeping main roads clear for emergency services and public transport.
A council spokesman said the giveaway is an annual scheme and remains 'extremely popular', pointing out that the borough's residents pay the lowest council tax in the country.
They also noted that the authority has doubled charges for second-home owners and properties left empty for over a year.
Haringey, which pushed council tax up by almost five per cent in its latest budget, runs a comparable programme.
Anyone who signs up as a 'winter buddy' can collect up to five bags of salt, each weighing 25kg, along with gloves, a branded high-visibility vest and a snow scoop or shovel.
Lambeth continues to operate its 'snow warden' initiative, launched in 2011, offering simple training as well as grit and equipment for those who sign up.
The authority, which increased council tax by 4.99 per cent and brought in a premium on second homes this year, said it remained under intense financial pressure after '15 years of underfunding from central government', though spending has been cut significantly.
Waltham Forest is also sticking with its own 'snow angels' group after raising council tax by 4.99 per cent.
The push for volunteers has sparked anger from campaigners. Callum McGoldrick of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'It's remarkable that councils are telling residents to go out and grit the pavements themselves.
'Councils can't keep hiking taxes and then expect local people to pick up the shovel for basic services they're already paying for.
'Town hall bosses should focus on delivering the essentials, not outsourcing winter maintenance to hard-pressed taxpayers.'
Temperatures in London are expected to dip to around 0°C, with health officials warning of increased risks for older people and extra pressure on the NHS.
Met office meteorologist Alex Burkill said cold air is coming from Siberia and crossing over the Arctic ocean to the UK.
Further north, an amber alert remains in place across the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, while the Met Office has multiple snow and ice warnings covering parts of Scotland and northern England through Thursday as sub-zero conditions set in.