10 Tips on How to Drive Safely in Snow and Ice in the UK

Many people who move to the UK to live and travel will drive there. Driving in the UK is quite straight-forward especially if you are use to driving in Australia. However, there is one aspect of driving in the UK which is very different if it does not snow at home. If you plan to drive through a UK Winter, be prepared to drive in snow and ice.

It is an exciting experience but it can also cause anxiety especially if it’s your first time. Most of the time you will drive on icy roads or slush but occasionally there will be snow everywhere! More accidents do happen in these slippery winter conditions but you can definitely reduce your risks. These are the tips I have gathered from my experience as an Aussie learning how to drive safely in snow and ice over two UK winters.

Here are 10 Tips on How to Drive Safely in Snow and Ice on UK’s Winter Roads:

1. Keep an ice scraper in your car

You can buy these for £1-2 from the supermarket. Every morning you will need to scrape the snow and ice off your car windows. An ice scraper is by far the best option as it is fast and reliable. I don’t recommend de-icer sprays because they are less effective, you have to keep replacing them and they are bad for the environment and for you to breathe in. Don’t use boiling water! You will crack your windscreen.

2. Make sure you have anti-freeze in your car engine’s cooling system (radiator)

Most cars will already have this but if you are not sure it would be worth adding some anti-freeze mixed 50:50 with water (coolant) to your cooling system.

3. Regularly wash your car and use proper screen wash in your windscreen water container

Everyone’s cars get very dirty in winter with all the mud, icy slush and salted roads. It’s important to keep the car windscreen and all your windows clean to maximise visibility. The proper screen wash solutions are handy as your windscreen will get sprayed with mud constantly. If you only use water it is more likely to freeze too. There are also many cheap car wash places where a group of guys will properly clean your car in 10 minutes flat. Use them. They will also help get rid of the salt corroding your car from all the salted roads.

4. Make sure you have good tyres

Winter tyres are useful but I rarely saw anyone change their tyres to winter ones in the UK. This occurred more often in Europe. Just make sure you have good tyres with ample tread on them. You will be happy you have them. Otherwise, if it is really icy, you really should have snow chains (although I never saw anyone in the UK using them).

5. Check the weather forecast before you plan to drive

If there’s going to be a heavy winter storm probably don’t take your Yaris for a spin. More seriously though, be careful driving if the temperature is getting very low. Black ice (ice on the roads you cannot see) can develop on roads especially at night or in the early morning.

6. Wear warm, winter, water-proof clothes and have a set of gum boots in your car

Make sure you have winter gear as you might get stuck on the road and have to get out of your car to either clear the way or go find help. A high vis jacket is also good so other drivers can see you.

If you get stuck don’t worry. Just stay calm and keep warm. I got stuck once on a busy roundabout with people constantly beeping me but seriously they are tossers so don’t worry about them. If you can’t dig your car out safely call for help. Worse scenario, just lock your car and hike to the nearest pub.

7. Drive 50% slower than you would normally drive

It will take you approximately twice the distance to stop so you need to slow down. No tail gating as well because you will 100% crash. Unfortunately hard braking won’t help you in snow. You will just slide or spin out instead.

8. Although you will be driving slow try to drive in a high gear if possible

Driving smoothly is ideal. The less revs the better. If you are in a low gear and you increase the revs you will likely spin your wheels and lose traction. If you notice the yellow flashing lights on your dash board your car is signalling you are about to lose traction too.

If you need to drive in a low gear just don’t rev it up!

9. Slow down before you drive around corners and down hills and steer carefully

Corners and hills are common places for you to slide and lose control of your car. Slow down earlier and if you start sliding look where you want to drive and carefully steer your car in that direction. Do not panic and make sudden, jerky movements while you steer or slam hard on the brakes. You will just lock your wheels up while you continue to slide.

10. Avoid the gritters on the UK motorways

There are trucks (gritters) that routinely spray salt on the roads to melt the snow at night. If you happen to be unlucky enough to see one of these gritters driving along and spraying salt across the road, the only way around them is to drive through the salt spray. Be careful when you do this. Ideally you would leave as much space as possible and overtake quickly when you get a chance. The problem is you really don’t get given many chances to do this. When I had this problem I would overtake as far away as possible and as quickly as possible. The rock salt is flung quite hard and can chip your car. It’s also more slippery driving behind a gritter as the freshly flung salt reduces the traction of your wheels on the road. Hence, you should overtake on a straight section only and get past the salt spray as quickly as possible.