FOI Request - January Snow 2026
Request 101003916489
Following information relating to the severe winter weather in early January 2026:
1. Copies of correspondence between Moray Council and external partners regarding the declaration, management, escalation, or coordination of the major incident. This includes:
a) Correspondence with Police Scotland
b) Correspondence with NHS Grampian
c) Correspondence with the Scottish Government
d) Correspondence with any other emergency response partner, including local resilience partnerships or adjacent local authorities
2. This should include emails, letters, briefing emails, meeting invitations, follow-ups, and attachments exchanged between the council and these partners from 1 January 2026 to 14 January 2026 (or other relevant periods if earlier/later correspondence relates to planning or debriefing).
3. Copies of internal correspondence (including emails, letters, briefing notes, meeting minutes, or memos) relating to the decision to hire machinery or equipment from private firms to support snow clearance.
Response 13-02-2026
Moray did not declare a major incident and as such we do not hold that information. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.
However, we do wish to be helpful and the following summary of our actions and processes may be of interest:
On the weekend of Saturday 3rd January 2026 a weather system approached Grampian bringing with it snow and ice. The Grampian Local Resilience Partnership (LRP) was activated where Category 1 and 2 responders co-located to provide a coordinated response to the situation. The partnership remained in place until Monday 12 January 2026 until most areas had returned to business as usual. The Incident Management Team chaired by the Moray Emergency Response Coordinator, ran concurrently alongside the LRP providing a localised coordinated approach between departments within Moray Council, Health and Social Care Moray and NHS Grampian. Those most vulnerable were provided with additional care and support where needed. Additionally, we were in touch with Community Resilience Groups to ascertain if there were any vulnerable persons that were not known to services that needed assistance. Moray Council did not declare a major incident, but did work within emergency planning arrangements to focus on responding to the extraordinary conditions.
Snowfall was constant over days, accompanied by freezing temperatures, which meant keeping main routes open was a significant challenge. Lower priority routes then suffered from drifting and compacted snow making travel dangerous and some routes impassible. When roads were cleared, pavements were then covered with the ploughed snow, which froze, making any clearing efforts formidable in nature. All roads treatment was carried out in line with the Council's duties as published online in the Winter Service Operational Plan.
These issues had a significant effect on schools’ ability to open safely. Although online learning and welfare assistance was given the focus remained on returning the students to learning. This was achieved through dedicated action and coordination with head teachers across days. Additional snow clearance within school boundaries and immediate streets was also carried out in order to assist with schools reopening as quickly as possible. Within the Council, staff were redeployed across services to support our response on the ground. Other localised issues such as shortages of stock in local shops were shared with Scottish Government to highlight the wider impact communities were experiencing. Throughout the week, as well as considerable efforts by council staff, there were countless examples of community resilience with people carrying out snow clearance and supporting neighbours.
The Recovery phase began on Monday 12th January 2026. There were no continued extraordinary measures that were needed to return to normality as plans were already in place to deal with backlogs of any disruption to services.