British weather can be highly unpredictable and severe conditions can hit at any time. It is a necessity to plan your journey well if you do have to drive during bad conditions, be prepared and ensure that your trip is entirely essential. Follow some of our top tips below to help you on your journey:
Essential planning and toolkit to store in your car:
- Inform someone at your destination of your estimated time of arrival
- Plan alternative routes in case your main choice(s) becomes impassable
- Make sure your phone is fully charged, so that you can call for help, if necessary; portable chargers are always useful to have with you
- Ensure that your fuel tank is near to full so you do not run out if delayed in traffic
- Regularly check the weather and traffic information on the TV/Radio/Social Media or websites to keep up to date with regional and national warnings, have a back-up plan as things change rapidly
- If conditions are very bad, and the emergency services are recommending that people don’t travel, take heed and avoid making your journey
- Ensure that you have stored food, water, extra warm clothes or a rug, a torch and boots – you may require a shovel too, no matter how extreme it sounds
- Before setting off, de-mist and clear your windows, a windscreen scraper and a de-icer are a necessity.
Prepare your vehicle – condition checks:
It’s a good idea to have your vehicle fully serviced before the bad weather commences and have the anti-freeze tested. If you can’t have it serviced, then do your own essential checks, such as;
- Brakes are fully working
- Clean and functioning lights
- Battery is fully charged
- Tyres are in good condition, in terms of tread depth and pressure (don’t forget the spare)
- Check the 3 W’s – windscreen, wiper blades, windows are clean and the washer bottle is filled with screen wash
- Top up your fluids, especially windscreen wash (to the correct concentration to prevent it freezing), anti-freeze and oil
You may deem the journey as essential, but realistically could it be postponed? However, if you really MUST travel please follow our tips above. Safe driving everyone!