Winter advice

Winter weather can be severe and can quickly disrupt our lives. Preparing now helps us, our families and our communities stay safe, warm and healthy. Even small steps can save time, money, and prevent illness.

We make every effort to help local people and businesses wherever we can, but it's everyone's responsibility to be prepared and take action.

The information below will help answer some of your questions about preparing for winter and how we will respond during severe weather.

Emergency updates

We’ll keep our website updated with the latest decisions and changes to normal services, including:

• community care arrangements
• bin collections
• schools and early childhood centres
• community facilities

Follow updates on East Ayrshire X and East Ayrshire Facebook.

Weather and flood alerts

Sign up to Stay Connected for e-mail alerts

Subscribe to Met Office weather warnings

Sign up to Floodline for flood alerts from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

Visit Ready Scotland for regular alerts and advice 

Home emergency kit

Ready Scotland recommends every household keeps a small emergency kit in a safe place in case of emergencies.

A sample list of what you could include in an emergency kit can be found at Ready Scotland: Create an emergency kit.

Roads, gritting and flooding

Report a fault (Ayrshire Roads Alliance)

Online gritter tracking, routes and grit bins for East and South Ayrshire (Ayrshire Roads Alliance)

Winter gritting frequently asked questions (Ayrshire Roads Alliance)

Winter service plan and gritting (Ayrshire Roads Alliance)

Flooding advice and support

Ice safety advice

Key messages from Water Safety Scotland:

• never go onto the ice
• keep a safe distance from the edge
• check for safety signage
• always supervise children and keep dogs on leads
• in an emergency, call 999

Find out more at Water Safety Scotland: Ice Safety