Don’t find yourself caught out in the cold

Read our handy guide to preparing for winter.

Cars are like people: they don’t particularly love being out in the cold.

However, by spending just a little bit of time carrying out a few common sense checks, you can make sure your car is prepared to handle the winter weather.

1. Check your lights

Whether you’re driving in mist and fog, heavy rain or snow, day or night, it’s really important you can be seen on the road.

Check the operation of all exterior lights and keep them clean. Replacing failed bulbs or fuses is usually straightforward.

2. Clean your windscreen and windows

The low winter sun can often be a real driving hazard – especially when combined with heavy rain on the roads.

You should always take care when driving in these sort of conditions, so regularly cleaning your windscreen and windows, inside and out, can help with visibility.

Only use a cleaner intended for car glass.

Clean the wiping edges of wiper blades with a tissue dipped in neat screen wash additive.

This will help stop smearing and prolong their life.

Check the condition of your wiper blades and stop them freezing to the screen by propping them up on slices cut from a cork when you park for the night. Also, keep the washer reservoir topped up and use an additive with antifreeze properties (not engine antifreeze though).

An old towel over the windscreen can be pulled off in the morning for a frostfree driving experience.

3. Tyre check

Each week and before embarking on long journeys, check the tyre pressures (including the spare wheel). Also check the tread depth – 1.6mm is the legal minimum but for good grip on wet roads, it’s best to replace tyres once the tread depth is 2mm. For winter driving the AA recommends 3mm of depth.

If you frequently drive on rural roads in winter, consider buying a spare set of wheels with winter tyres specially designed for these conditions.

Some tyre retailers will actually store the summer tyres for you in winter and vice-versa.

4. Under the bonnet

Check the level in the coolant reservoir and top up as necessary with a water/ antifreeze solution. The coolant (with antifreeze) should be changed every two to three years.

Also, make sure the antifreeze concentration in the cooling system is adequate – if there has been a leak and you’ve been topping up with plain water, it may not be.

Checking the tread on your tyres every week could be the difference between avoiding a skid and suffering one.