Information from the County Council:
POTHOLES
the number of potholes on our roads has significantly increased over the last two months but why has this happened?
The roads across Surrey have seen a significant increase in the number of potholes forming, largely due to freezing temperatures and consistent, heavy rain.
These conditions cause road surfaces to crack and more potholes to form, as explained in this video.
Surrey County Council is receiving very high numbers of reports of potholes and as a result, it is currently taking them longer than usual to inspect, and make, repairs.
The Council has increased the normal number of repair crews by 75% and they are out on the 3,000 miles of roads working day and night to fix, on average, 1521 potholes every week, as well as dealing with a high number of emergencies including road traffic collisions, flooding, ice and fallen trees.
Surrey County Council is resurfacing more roads and pavements than ever to prevent potholes forming in the first place.
90 miles of roads and 20 miles of pavements were resurfaced between April and November 2025 alone.
During this time, there was a 40% reduction in the number of potholes reported. This is on top of the 443 miles of roads and 198 miles of pavements that were resurfaced over the past five years.
Highways Officers are carrying out larger-scale repairs where possible, minimising the need to return to a location and thus, easing the impact of our works. AI cameras are being used in the Inspectors’ vehicles to help detect defects and the Council has made it easier for residents to report and track them too.
Surrey has some of the country’s busiest roads and this naturally takes its toll but the Council is working incredibly hard to improve them, with nearly £300m allocated to repairing roads and pavements between 2023 – 2028.
Many residents are unaware of how to report a pothole. Dangerous potholes should be reported by calling the 24/7 road emergency line on 0300 200 1003.
Less serious road defects should be reported here:
Please only report a pothole once because multiple reports of the same issue can delay the response. It is possible to see and track previously reported potholes on the same site.
