By Jamie White – Head of Communications

With the possibility of snow falling in some parts of the UK over the festive period, drivers in the UK are being urged to check their tyre pressures or consider fitting winter tyres.

Designed to provide better grip in cold and damp conditions compared with normal tyres, winter tyres are ideal for British roads right the way from October through to the spring, when colder temperatures hit.

TyreSafe chairman, Stuart Jackson, said: “While we can’t know for sure if we will experience snow this year, we can be certain that drivers fitting winter tyres will have better grip and safety, throughout the entire winter period.”

As temperatures drop below 7 degrees, the tread compound in normal tyres begins to harden, providing reduced levels of grip. Winter weather tyres contain more natural rubber which minimises the hardening effect, giving them extra grip in cold, wet and icy conditions.

Tests conducted by the British Tyre Manufacturers Association found that a car braking at 60mph on a wet road at 5 degrees Celsius stopped five metres shorter, equivalent to more than one car length, when fitted with winter weather tyres.

TyreSafe is also reminding drivers that they should ensure that their tyres have adequate tread depth and are inflated to the correct pressure. The minimum legal minimum tread depth for cars is 1.6mm, but deeper tread will provide drivers with safer motoring, especially in wet conditions.

Mystery Shopping and Performance Improvement company, Douglas Stafford, provides bespoke nationwide mystery shopping and customer experience programmes to include Telephone Mystery Shopping, Report-Based Mystery Shopping, Email Mystery Shopping and Video Mystery Shopping to companies across the UK.