Rob Brrrr-ydon and Huw Sledge-wards! Welsh named gritters hit the road

Eleven new gritters with Welsh inspired names have been rolled out by Traffic Wales ready for the winter season.

Chosen after suggestions by the public, the Welsh-themed and weather-related names will help keep traffic moving on the road network in South Wales.

They will make up a total of 40 upgraded gritters with a further 19 to come next year.

The names of the new gritters are:

• Alun Wyn-ter Jones
• The Eiradicator
• Geraint Thom-ice
• The Grit Redeemer
• Huwie Halen
• Ian Slush
• Gritter Ap GritFace
• National Ice-steddfod
• Rob Brrrr-ydon
• Huw Sledge-wards
• I’M4Gritting

Huw Edwards seemed to be very pleased to have his name adorned on a gritter, cheekily tweeting…

“Piste off? No way. Gritted my teeth and happily boarded my sledge…Snowflake Ski and ski boot see you soon on the M4”

Piste off? No way. Gritted my teeth and happily boarded my sledge…❄️ 🎿 see you soon on the M4 😎 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 https://t.co/HDAtocXU66 pic.twitter.com/wvP1MIdmP7

— Huw Edwards (@thehuwedwards) November 29, 2021

Overwhelmed

A spokesperson for Traffic Wales said: “We’d like to thank the public for their suggestions. We’ve been overwhelmed by the response.

“Follow #NameOurGrittersSW to discover the next names when the additional gritters arrive next year.”

Last year 10 gritters were given names suggested by the public.

They were:

Last year’s top 10

1. Oh Salt’s Occurring
2. Snowain Glyndwr
3. Pretty Gritty City
4. Fan Halen
5. Aneurin Bevan
6. Pont Y Ploughie
7. Y Ddraig Oren
8. Dai Icer
9. Eira Gwyn
10. Cymro

The spokesperson added: “The gritters will improve safety for drivers and workers due to the vehicles’ improved technology, set up and enhanced visibility.

“Last year, on average, we spent 83 days out of the 212 day winter season gritting the Trunk Road and Motorway along the South Wales network. We’ve currently got over 20,000 tonnes of salt in our depots to help keep traffic moving this winter.”