Days after the island saw multiple weather warnings due to ice, frost and wintry showers, the Department of Infrastructure has confirmed that the island has used more rock salt this year than the average winter.

As of Friday, December 16, the island had used about 500 tonnes in the year, which in comparison to the past five years, is more than usual.

Four of the past 10 days has seen an amber weather warning issued due to ice, frost or wintry showers.

This saw many roads being closed, and on Friday, one of the days where an amber weather warning was issued, the airport was shut for a brief period of time due to the icy conditions.

Typically the DoI spends an average of £56,000 on rock salt annually.

However, the department says that rock salt is not bought on a year to year basis, it is only bought when there is sufficient storage.

Rock salt is available in containers along the pavements, which the public can use to grit public paths.

The government issued a statement in the past week asking people to ensure that public areas were gritted before they used rock salt on private land.

The rock salt for the island is sourced from the Irish salt Mining and Exploration Co Ltd based in Kilroot in Northern Ireland.

The island has six bulk gritters, which includes two gritters with nine cubic metres capacity, and four gritters with six cubic metres capacity.

Additionally there are two small demount units, which are hand-held units that can hold 1.7 cubic metres of rock salt, which typically have a lower maintenance cost.

In the Isle of Man there are 30 trained winter maintenance operators.

This training is based on the industry standard for winter maintenance delivery, with both the training and assessment provided by the City and Guilds 6159 qualification.

This training ensures that winter operators are able to use their machines safely and effectively.

A spokesperson for the department of infrastructure said: ‘Out of hours gritting is predominately undertaken by a crew of two for safety reasons.

‘However, pre-salting during the normal working day is often undertaken by one crew member.’

When the Met Office issues an amber weather warning, a meeting by the Adverse Weather Group is typically triggered.

The Adverse Weather Group is made up of officers from the department of infrastructure, police, fire, ambulance, civil defence, Met Office and other government departments.

A spokesperson for the DoI said: ‘Depending on the nature and timing of the event, the Adverse Weather Group will come together and agree the best course of action.’

According to the Met Office, the weather in the island is set to remain mild for the rest of the week.

It says there is unlikely to be a white Christmas.