UK winter driving guides — snow, ice, fog, winter tyres, de-icing, and essential breakdown kit for cold weather.
Check any UK car before you buy — free.
What the Highway Code requires before you set off in snow or ice, how it says to drive once moving, and its gear, braking and bend advice in plain English.
The winter kit the Highway Code and the Met Office say to carry, six checks before a long drive, and what to do if you break down on any road or a motorway.
Bonfire Night is Thursday 5 November 2026. Where roads close (Lewes from 4.45pm), when to move your car, parking away from displays, and the fireworks curfew.
Frost is back this week. How to clear ice from every window, your lights and plates as the Highway Code requires, without cracking glass or breaking the law.
No UK law requires winter tyres. What the Highway Code asks of every tyre (1.6mm tread, right pressure), the penalty per tyre, and who gains from a winter set.
The Highway Code rules for fog in plain words: headlights on below 100 metres, fog lights only when visibility is seriously reduced and off when it improves.
Met Office yellow wind warning for Tuesday 27 October: gusts of 50-60 mph, 70 mph on coasts. What the Highway Code says and five checks for an older car.
British winters rarely bring deep snow, but they bring the things that catch drivers out: dark commutes from the end of October, weeks of rain and spray, named storms, black ice on untreated side roads and fog that sits in valleys until lunchtime. The parts of a car that matter most in those conditions are the ones the national MOT record shows failing most often on older cars: bulbs, wipers, washers and tyres.
The guides in this section take the Met Office warnings and the Highway Code's adverse-weather rules and turn them into plain checklists: what to look at before a journey in a wind or ice warning, how stopping distances change in the wet, when headlights are compulsory, and which items are worth five minutes on the drive before you set off. Where the test record has something to say, the figure and its sample size are given together.
Winter is also when a used car's condition shows. If you are buying at this time of year, read the MOT history for recurring lamp, wiper and tyre items before you view. Our free car check shows the full record for any UK registration.
Check any UK car before you buy — free.