GRITTERS will take to Oxfordshire's roads tonight to prepare for plummeting temperatures of -4 degrees celsius, with snow forecast for Thursday. 

Oxfordshire County Council will salt a 1200-mile network of roads, which are detailed here.

It warned drivers to take care on the roads. 

Temperatures in Oxfordshire are set to plummet in the early hours of tomorrow morning, posing a danger of ice. 

Benson could see lows of -4 degrees celsius, while Oxford will be slightly warmer at -2 degrees celsius.

The sun should be out by 8am but don't be deceived - temperatures will feel as low as -6 degrees. 

Grahame Madge, forecaster at the Met Office, said: "Tomorrow should be very sunny which means temperatures will creep up a little bit to five or six degrees. Conditions are going to be challenging - the sun does create an additional hazard for drivers."

Oxfordshire is forecast light snow on Thursday, between 6am and midday, but Mr Madge scuppered hopes that it would be worthy of building any snowmen. 

He added: "It will be very low accumulation and patchy in nature. We are not expecting anything major."

It will not be the first smattering of snow Oxfordshire has seen this year, after the county's picturesque powdering in January. 

Paul Smith, spokesman for the county council, said gritters will decide whether to continue salting the roads based on the daily weather forecast.

Gritters will be out in force throughout the week, if road temperatures are freezing or below.