THE cold weather has settled in with whispers and warnings of snow to come.

At the time of writing, most of Gwent remains clear of the white stuff, and no school closures are expected for tomorrow at least.

But the Met Office have extended the snow and ice warning for most of Wales until at least Friday, February 1.

But it's good to be prepared, so here’s a run down of gritter activity and school closure policies across Newport, Caerphilly county Borough, Torfaen, Monmouthshire and Blaenau Gwent.

Stay warm out there!

  • Gritters

All five local authorities will have gritters out on the roads tonight from 7pm.

  • Newport schools

The council have confirmed it is business as usual at the time of writing, with all schools in the city expected to be open tomorrow.

A spokesman said the decision to close a school is made by the head teacher and chair of governors and is generally made following an inspection of their specific site.

They added: “Very rarely are decisions taken in advance – usually only in the case of very extreme or prolonged bad weather.”

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  • Caerphilly County Borough schools

Each school in Caerphilly County Borough updates the council website with their current status.

You can check the status of your child’s school here: https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/snow

A spokesman for the council added: “Head teachers themselves, in consultation with governing bodies determine whether or not to close their school due to inclement weather.

“There’s also lots of other information on the above link about social care, meals on wheels etc during the snow on the website.”

  • Blaenau Gwent schools

In Blaenau Gwent, individual head-teachers to assess their sites and make a decision over closures.

They then update the school closures page of the website for residents to see . You can find it at https://blaenaugwentcbc-schoolclosures.azurewebsites.net/

A council spokesman said they weren’t aware of any school closures at the time of writing.

“Most also have text messaging for parents,” they added.

“In extreme the council’s emergency response team can recommend that schools close, but this on an advisory basis only.”

  • Monmouthshire schools

Parents in Monmouthshire are advised to contact their school, and we aim to keep parents informed as early as possible.

School closure information is available on the council website, and parents can find out about their school using this link: https://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/are-you-ready-for-winter

A spokesman told the Argus: “If snow does fall, the front page of the Monmouthshire County Council website will hold all the information residents need to know.

“Updates will also be available via @MonmouthshireCC on Facebook and Twitter

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“The opening and closure of the school is a decision for the Headteacher and Chair of Governors to make taking into account the local circumstances such as conditions of the roads to the school and availability of school staff.

“As the County is geographically large there can be significant variations between the conditions in the north and south of the County. Where possible, the Council encourages schools to open providing it is safe for them to do so.

“There are no planned closures at the moment, however if there are, notification will be sent out as quickly as possible.”

  • Torfaen schools

All of the information, advice and updates on any disruption to council services, including schools, can be found on the council website and Facebook page.

You can follow this link to get to their site: https://www.torfaen.gov.uk/en/AboutTheCouncil/Homepage-Stories/Snow-Updates.aspx

Torfaen Council was contacted for comment about their school closure policy.