Colleagues I though I would provide you with a further update concerning the councils activity in the coming days to deal with the winter conditions which we are experiencing. Can I also thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this period and for all of the feedback and kind words following my last email. I have set out below the update under the various headings: Weather - the forecast until Monday is that the Borders will remain with freezing temperatures which will not get above a minus figure on both Friday and Saturday. With double digit minus figures on Friday and Saturday night. There is also the likelihood of snow showers throughout Saturday into the early hours of Sunday morning although we do not expect the snow accumulation to be significant. Sunday is to be the warmest day with temperatures possibly reaching 1 degree (almost barbecue weather) and Monday is set to continue in a similar vein but again temperatures on both Sunday and Monday night are likely to be low. Beyond Monday the forecast is cold with the likelihood of renewed snow in the middle of the week (no thaw in sight). Roads and Footways - we have now snow ploughed all major routes and many side streets and country routes and are turning our attention to salting and gritting where it is possible. Unfortunately the very cold temperatures of last night and those predicted for Friday and Saturday mean that salting will not be effective as salt ceases to work at minus 10. However, we will be doing existing salting during the day and a huge effort is going to take place over the weekend to improve footpaths and side streets. All of the council's Parks, Cleansing, refuse collectors, SB Local and community wardens have now been amalgamated into one snow clearing unit and they will join with all of the roads staff to create a team of nearly 500 staff who will be operational on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to clear snow. One of their main considerations will be to get schools and the routes to schools clear but they will also concentrate on town and village centres and I would hope by Sunday evening, based on the schedule of works I have seen there should be a big improvement for everyone in Leaderdale and Melrose in terms of the snow clearing effort. We are also employing the Borders Machinery Ring and whole host of local hauliers, farmers and building contractors over the next 3 days to assist with the snow clearing effort on roads and footpaths. Salt - salt remains a major problem and there is a national shortage and we are simply not getting the salt we require. I have today made representation to the First Minister to request special support for the Borders concerning salt stock. We need to use all of our salt stock on Friday , Saturday and Sunday to get the region back in a position where it can go back to work and schools can open on Monday and if we do not receive new deliveries over the weekend there will be no salt left by Sunday evening. The major complicating factor is that our salt supplier is closing on Saturday and Sunday and therefore I am asking the First Minister to put pressure on them to stay open and deliver to us or to provide us with a stock of salt for Sunday into Monday until new deliveries arrive on Monday afternoon. Schools - we are now trying to have all schools open on Monday and I would expect that all schools in the Leaderdale and Melrose ward will be open on Monday as normal. However, I would advise you to listen to Radio Borders over the weekend for information on school openings just in case of unforeseen circumstances or something goes wrong with one of the schools in our area. Social Work - a tremendous effort has been made by our home care and social work staff to ensure that all clients have been visited and are being kept supplied with food and looked after. I have numerous stories of home carers walking 3 miles in the snow to get to clients and these staff have been tremendous in ensuring that our vulnerable and elderly clients have been looked after. Food - supplies of fresh food have been difficult in some shops in the last 48 hours. However, we are now working with a range of retail companies, small and large, to ensure that milk and bread supplies and other products will be in the shops on Saturday and Sunday. Please feel free to distribute this email to anyone who might benefit from this information and if there is anything that any of you can do to help clear the snow or to encourage others to do so that would be great. Best wishes and kind regards.