Get Ready for the Big Freeze
With weather forecasters warning us here in Great Britain that the current cold snap could bring some snow how prepared are you for some prolonged freezing temperatures?
The intense period of winter weather in 2009 highlighted how unprepared we were in the U.K. usually are for bad winter weather. I shouldn’t generalise as people in Scotland tend to be better prepared than their soft southern cousins. Scotland tends to be better able to cope with intense wintery conditions as they experience some bad winter weather nearly every year.
One problem that arose early in 2009 was that gritting trucks ran out of road grit. It has been said that this was due to a lack of adequate funding. But this really comes down to poor resource planning. While the south of the United Kingdom can experience some intense winter conditions they tend to be very shortlived. There wasn’t enough grit to cope with the prolonged five weeks of snow.
But how do they cope in countries like Sweden and Norway where they have snow on the ground for much of the winter?
Driving on snow covered, icy roads is treacherous. Not only due to the lack of traction and grip but also due to reduced visibility caused by spray and slush kicked up by cars and trucks. Winter tyres are recommended as an absolute minimum.
Although they do grit their roads in Norway and Sweden this is usually concentrated on busy road junctions. Once away from the busy city and town roads you’ll find roads consist of compacted snow and ice. In these conditions it is important to travel slowly and make no sudden movements.Overtaking is not a good idea in these dangerous driving conditions.
Winter tyres can help a lot. 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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Tags: icy roads, snow forecast, weather forecast, winter driving, winter weather