That’s what Dumfries and Galloway Council are preparing for.
Councillors yesterday received an update on the local authority’s contingency planning for the months ahead.
And chief officer Richard Grieveson told them: “In a normal year, it can be a challenging time of year for the council, its partners and residents alike given the many weather related challenges we routinely face, but this year we face multiple challenges.”
He outlined the various threats facing the area including Brexit, avian flu, weather disruption and the ‘ongoing public health emergency as a result of Covid-19’, adding: “We also have to plan for and mitigate for supporting the NHS in planning and delivering the biggest vaccination programme we have ever seen.”
With many people still working from home, the council have prepared a virtual approach to dealing with any weather disruption and have carried out test runs to check their procedures.
Mr Grieveson said: “There is general confidence that this approach will work, and indeed may be more efficient.”
Meanwhile, the roads service has joined forces with both waste and street services to ensure that the service is fully staffed and able to deliver an effective service over the winter period.
Plans are also in place for education and Mr Grieveson said: “Schools may be more vulnerable to closure as a result of being unable to increase class sizes should staff be unavailable due to weather impacts, in order to remain covid safe.”
