With latest weather forecasts warning us in the UK that we can expect some snow how prepared are you for some real winter weather?

The intense period of winter weather in 2009 highlighted how unprepared we were in the U.K. often are for intense winter weather. I shouldn’t generalise as people in Scotland tend to be far better prepared than people in the South East. Scotland tends to be better able to cope with intense wintery conditions as they experience some bad winter weather nearly every year.

One of the issues that arose early in 2009 was that road gritting trucks ran out of grit. It has been suggested that this was due to local authorities running out of money. But this really comes down to poor resource planning. While the south can experience periods of intensely bad winter weather they tend to be shortlived. There wasn’t enough grit to cope with the prolonged five weeks of snow.

But what do they do in countries like Sweden and Norway where snow lays on the ground for most of the winter?

Driving on snow covered, icy roads is treacherous. Not only as a result of slippery road surfaces but also due to poor visibility caused by snow, sleet and slush. Winter tyres are recommended as an absolute minimum.

In Norway and Sweden some road gritting is carried out but this is usually concentrated on busier road junctions. Once away from the busy city and town roads you’ll find roads consist of compacted snow and ice. When driving on these roads it is important to travel slowly and not to make any sudden moves. Overtaking is a bad idea in these conditions.

A good set of winter tyres can be enormously beneficial. The tyres contain some added silicone which helps them to remain flexible at low temperatures. They also tend to have a heavier tread pattern with fine lateral cuts which help the tyre to put as much surface as possible in contact with the ground.

Another possible option to improve traction is to use snow chains but these are only really useful in snow and not very useful on ice.Another type of tyre to consider are metal studded tyres which can be helpful in icy road conditions.

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