A DROP in temperature has seen council bosses bring forward the gritting season.

Members of Blackburn with Darwen Council's roads team will be out on the borough's roads from tonight and continuing over the weekend as temperatures plummet below zero.

A spokesman said: "We are bringing the gritting season forward again this year by a few days.

"We usually start our standby operations from the last Monday in October, although we are always monitoring behind the scenes from the beginning of October.

"Tonight is the start of our operations over the weekend, with temperatures expected to drop below zero on Saturday and Sunday night as well.

"Temperatures are set to recover from Monday."

A forecast issued by the team said it would be dry overnight causing it to turn cold and road surfaces temperatures to drop below zero in places.

They added there was the possibility of light sleet over the Pennines.