Winter tyres are largely misunderstood in Britain. Put simply, there doesn’t need to be snow on the ground before drivers will feel the traction, grip and safety benefits of fitting winter tyres.
According to the Met Office, the UK has 11 days of lying snow per year, on average, although this increases 23 days a year in Scotland. If you happen to live in the Highlands, a set of winter tyres is the best way to stay mobile.
Winter tyres can be beneficial throughout the cold season as they are designed for temperatures below 7ºC, making them well suited to a typical British winter. In Birmingham, for example, average temperatures in December range from 2-7ºC: prime conditions for winter tyres.
So, cutting to the chase, you should consider fitting winter tyres if you want to drive as safely as possible between now and the spring. Read on to find out more.
Most cars are equipped with summer tyres, or ‘normal’ tyres, which are designed primarily for temperatures above 7ºC. A winter tyre differs in three ways. It has:
The British Tyre Manufacturers’ Association says a car fitted with winter tyres, braking from 62mph on a cold and wet road, will out-brake a car fitted with normal tyres by around five metres – the length of a Range Rover. On snowy roads at 30mph, the difference is 11 metres.
It’s certainly true that winter tyres are slightly more expensive than normal tyres. You also need to factor in the cost of second set of wheels – simple steel wheels would be perfect, rather than fancy alloy rims. But you should look at winter tyres as an investment, rather than a secondary expense.
For a start, your summer tyres will be left unused during the winter months, so you’re effectively doubling their life (assuming you store them in the correct manner). There’s also the cost associated with keeping moving when other vehicles may be left stranded, not to mention the almost priceless value of road safety.
As an added bonus, if you use steel wheels with your winter tyres, your expensive alloys will be saved from the ravages of salt, grit and wet weather.
Anyone who has driven through Europe during the skiing season will know that winter tyres are mandatory in some countries. These include Austria, Norway and, in some conditions, Germany.
There are no such laws in the UK, leaving you free to make an informed decision. The further north you are, the more likely you are to benefit from winter tyres. For example, the Cairngorms in Scotland, where snow or sleet falls on 76.2 days of the year, is prime winter tyre territory.
Most tyre manufacturers recommend fitting winter tyres in October and removing them again in March. Their use should be driven by the temperature, though, so if the country is braced for a cold spell in April, you can leave your winter tyres on for a few extra weeks.
Murphy’s law dictates that temperatures will plunge a week after you’ve refitted your car’s summer tyres, of course…
The benefits of using winter tyres will diminish once temperatures start to rise, so switching to summer tyres is highly recommended.
According to Michelin, braking distance from 50mph to standstill between 11ºC to 26ºC on wet roads will be four metres shorter with summer tyres than on winter rubber.
On a dry road, braking from 31mph to zero, a car riding on summer tyres will pull up 1.5 metres shorter than the same car on winters.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says the majority of insurance providers recognise that winter tyres have a ‘positive impact’ on road safety. As such, their fitment shouldn’t affect your annual premium.
However, some insurers may require you to contact them before making the switch, so check your policy details for further information. The ABI has created a winter tyres ‘commitment’, which should prove useful when you’re considering the insurance implications.
In theory, there shouldn’t be any drawbacks associated with winter tyres, but there are a few things to consider.
Firstly, if you live in an urban area and your daily commute takes in roads that are well maintained and routinely gritted when the temperatures drop, you’ll receive less benefit from winter tyres than drivers in rural regions.
Some drivers who have used winter tyres complain of increased road noise and a decrease in fuel economy, but you should check the reviews of each individual tyre for further details.
Other factors may include a potentially lower speed rating for a set of winter tyres, the fact that you have to run winters on all four wheels, and finding the space for storing a spare set of wheels during the summer or winter.
Also, it’s worth noting that, no matter how good your tyres are, or how skilful you are behind the wheel, you’ll still have to queue behind everybody else if the conditions turn treacherous and every car on summer tyres grinds to a halt.
A four-wheel-drive vehicle isn’t a viable alternative to a set of winter tyres. While it will provide better traction on ice and snow, it delivers no advantages when stopping or cornering. That said, a 4×4 riding on a set of winter tyres is arguably the ultimate cold-weather weapon.
For a cheaper alternative to winter tyres, you could consider a pair of snow socks. While they’re not a direct substitute, they work by covering the driven wheels in stretchy, grippy fabric. They could mean the difference between getting home or being left by the roadside in the snow.
A more old-school solution would be a set of snow chains, but the road must be covered in a layer of ice or snow before they can be used. Using them in other conditions risks damaging the road and could result in a fine.
Finally, you could consider a set of all-weather tyres (often called all-season tyres), which are designed to cover most conditions, providing a good balance of wet and dry performance. In theory, this should make them ideally suited to the British climate and able to tackle any snow you might encounter.
Winter tyres hit the headlines way back in 2010 when much of Britain experienced a harsh winter and most of the country seemed to grind to a halt. Demand for winter tyres far outstripped supply as motorists were alerted to their benefits.
Today, this is where some misconceptions stem from, with many consumers wrongly associating winter tyres with snow. Far better, we think to call them ‘cold weather’ tyres.
The winter of 2025-2026 is forecast to be warmer than usual, but average UK temperatures will likely still be below 7ºC. If you’re keen to fit winter tyres, it makes sense to act soon – particularly as they are a niche product, so fitters may not have your car’s size available in stock.
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