It is a depressing thought, but as the children go back to school in September; Winter and all it’s troubles really is only a few weeks away. It may be unfortunate in the extreme to have a breakdown in summer, but it can be absolutely life threatening in winter.

The good news is that you can do a few simple preparations yourself to make sure that you reduce the risks to an absolute minimum. You can also make a few simple steps to acclimatize your car to the coming winter weather, and in so doing you’ll make your winter driving a good deal easier and less troublesome.

To begin with make sure you have your servicing done & up to date following the manufacturer’s schedule. Many of the checks we’re going to do ourselves should be carried out during the service, but remember, especially with service intervals increasing, a clean bill of health on the day the car was serviced doesn’t mean things won’t deteriorate to critical levels before the next service.

Tires are one of the most critical safety components of your car, and they are very easy to check. First of all check the tire pressures. Remember that even without leaks, the tire pressure will decrease as the temperatures decrease. This is because the air inside the tire shrinks as it becomes cooler. Next you should check the tire tread depth, while you may get away with wearing your tires right down to the legal limit in summer, you really need the tread in winter in order to give you grip through the rainwater and snow. At the same time, check the tire tread & walls for cracks, cuts and anything that may be piercing them.

Finally, you may want to think about getting a set of extra rims fitted with winter tires, and fitting those at the end of September.  These tires have specially designed tread that pumps away the water, snow and mud, so they really help you even in mild but wet winters such as we often have in the UK.

Next take a look at your car wiper blades. These too are critical for safety and easy to check. Just raise the Car Wiper Blades away from the windscreen, and wipe the blades clean with a soft damp cloth., look for cracks, cuts and tearing, especially on traditional Car Wiper Blades, where the blade is held by the feet of the frame. Also check the joints in the wiper blade frame & make sure they are free, but not loose or worn. If you have flat blade wipers, you won’t have any joints to worry about.

Consider fitting Silicone Windscreen Wipers. These stay flexible right down to -60