Motorists were warned only to make necessary journeys today, as councils were warned to try and hold on to their gritting stocks.

The Government has written to all local authorities warning them to make sure they have enough salt to last through the cold snap after stocks fell dangerously low last year.

But it emerged today gritters across the West Midlands have already been out on double the number of runs so far this winter compared to 2009.

Staffordshire County Council has been out on 36 days so far this season, on many occasions twice a day, which is double what would normally be expected by this time of year.

In 2009 in Dudley crews first went out on November 30 and by December 17 they had been out on seven call-outs.

This year they first hit the streets on October 19 and have been out on 24 separate occasions.

However bosses say it was around this time last year when crews were called out for 30 continuous nights of gritting leading them to go out a total of 63 times last year.

Gritters in Sandwell have so far been out 31 times this year, compared to 60 times over last winter while in Wolverhampton they have so far had 28 call-outs compared to 10 this time last year.

The only council which has seen a fall in call outs is Walsall who have so far been out 10 times compared to 11 this time last year.

Mark Peacock, head of driver development at AA Driving School, said: “Driving conditions will be treacherous in many parts over the next few days, with no region escaping ice and snow.

“It’s more important than ever to plan your journey carefully and heed any local police warnings on whether to drive.

“If you do make a journey it is absolutely vital that you adjust your driving to suit the conditions.

Compared with a week ago, 999 calls from the Black Country soared from 521 to 781, a 50 per cent rise. In Staffordshire the calls shot up from 165 to 240, a 45 per cent increase.

A car crashed into a glass greenhouse after rolling down a slope when its driver left the handbrake off while she popped into a shop.

Tony Carey and business partner Tom Hotchkiss were today facing a bill of thousands of pounds after the vehicle sent glass flying when it smashed a 20m section of the building at Rudge Heath Nursery, near Bridgnorth. The pair had been refurbishing the closed gardening business since taking it over two months ago.

Mr Carey, of Chelmarsh, said they had hoped to have the business reopened by January 1 but would now have to put that back.

He said: “The woman went into the shop and left the handbrake off the car and the car just rolled straight down the slope and straight into the nursery.”