Winter tyres saved me three times!!!!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office, said: "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect.

Temperatures have been slightly above average for December, but even if they were "about average", shouldn't that be telling you something.

The average Winter is mild and has no snow...

You've just gone and shot your own argument in the foot with both barrels.
 
January and February are generally the months when the (southern) UK can expect the coldest weather and the greatest likelihood of snow.

Feb 28th 1986, the day my firstborn emerged, was covered in snow and ice and indeed it snowed more on that day.
 
South of Germany (Stuttgart area) was about 11C today according to the in-laws. Very mild indeed for the time of year.

Look Guys, Whatever the temperature; Just when can I be pulled by the Polizei for driving on summer tyres? :confused:
 
Temperatures have been slightly above average for December, but even if they were "about average", shouldn't that be telling you something.

The average Winter is mild and has no snow...

You've just gone and shot your own argument in the foot with both barrels.

Not at all. I hit black ice this morning and thanks to my winter tyres it went without drama. There is snow every winter here, and we have had some this December even in one of the supposedly milder winters.

Had a chance to see the driving on ice videos I posted on another part of the forum yet? You appear remarkably quit on them so far.;)
 
Christmas Day at 13oC...a record...a fact...yes it was warmer than last year by about 30oC...what a plonker he is. And, we have used half the oil we normally use to heat the house at this time of year, not just compared to last year. So, although the cost of oil is 33% higher than this time last year, the true cost is about 40% less.

Well you have to remember that the summer months were rather cool, and that autumn and spring were mild.

I don't know where you buy your oil, but last year this time the oil was around 68p a litre and this year it is only :)rolleyes:) 58p or so. i have saved enough on heating fuel to buy another set of winter tyres.:rock:
 
Well you have to remember that the summer months were rather cool, and that autumn and spring were mild.

I don't know where you buy your oil, but last year this time the oil was around 68p a litre and this year it is only :)rolleyes:) 58p or so. i have saved enough on heating fuel to buy another set of winter tyres.:rock:

I paid 59p on the 3rd January last year.

Heating oil in Northern Ireland is cheaper than GB. The most I ever paid was 59p, in Jan & November 2011, a year previously I paid 45p. Though currently it is as you stated 58p for delivery this week. But I will not need oil until the end of February at the current rate of usage. That will be 1000litres lasting 4 months...unheard of previously.
 
Last edited:
Only the temperatures are rising, not dropping.
We've just had the 2nd Warmest December in the last 100 years and haven't had any decent snow in the last 20 years (even including the last two Winters).

If too many drivers go for fitting Winter tyres the Council will have to send road sweepers out to sweep up all the overheated rubber bobbles.


If only this were indeed accurate. Put into context, the average UK winter temperature for the last 20 years has been 5.04 oC, however the last three winters have averaged 3.50 °C, 2.53 °C and 3.13 °C, with 2009/10 being the 14th coldest in the last 160 years.

The Institute of Physics Study: ''solar activity lull increases chances of cold UK winters''

quite an interesting read.....

Study: solar activity lull increases chances of cold UK winters | Watts Up With That?


alternative reading =

http://globalcoolingnewiceageuk.blogspot.com/2011/01/uk-summer-and-winter-weather-forecast_31.html
 
Was there a need for such comment??:crazy:

In my experience the English like nothing more than to drive past a crash rubbernecking rather than stop and help. I've seen it time and time again, on one occasion a coach drove past an injured man lieing in the road belching diesel smoke all over him, so I agree with Borys in this instance.

My wife is a doctor so we always stop at an incident, it's funny how many times we're "first" on the scene yet didn't even see the crash happen!
 
In my experience the English like nothing more than to drive past a crash rubbernecking rather than stop and help.
.

Utter tosh and an insult to this forum
 
I know this is drifting the thread somewhat, but you're right, ccaallvviinn.

About a year ago, my b-i-l was on the hard shoulder of a motorway, late at night. A Tranny van drove into him (driver many times over the limit, it transpired), leaving him unconscious in the car, which was now several feet shorter and in the middle lane, facing the wrong way. Despite the late hour, no one stopped to help; people preferring to slalom around the wreckage and carry on. His plight was eventually spotted by a passing ambulance driver who chanced to be travelling in the opposite direction, who drove to the next exit and came back to the scene. The ambulance was the first vehicle to stop, many minutes after the incident.
 
I left Edinburgh the other morning, the dash thing in my little BMW was showing 7C but out of town it soon dropped to 1C, puddles at the side of the road frozen.

40 miles down the road near Moffat it was snowing. Brilliant fun! Winter tyres are really good but I coped well on normal ones.
 

Attachments

  • snowbm.jpg
    snowbm.jpg
    129 KB · Views: 105
40 miles down the road near Moffat it was snowing. Brilliant fun! Winter tyres are really good but I coped well on normal ones.

If you couldn't drive on that with normal tyres you need our licence revoking.
 
Not at all. I hit black ice this morning and thanks to my winter tyres it went without drama. There is snow every winter here, and we have had some this December even in one of the supposedly milder winters.

Had a chance to see the driving on ice videos I posted on another part of the forum yet? You appear remarkably quit on them so far.;)

I saw the video's and no-one disagrees that winter tyres do offer more grip in the right conditions, but the speeds on the ice rink were about 10mph. Try the same manoeuvres at 70mph, nothing but studded tyres then works on ice.

How do you know you hit ice this morning, it has to be well below 0c with wind to cause the road to freeze.

Strange as it may seem, I am aware of the Lincolnshire wolds as that area came under my control at work for ten years or so.
Snow was very rarely a problem for my drivers...maybe they can drive better on their summer tyres than you can...:dk:
 
I like em (winter tyres), they work well.

There was an inch or so of snow last night, once compacted it was quite amusing out on the lanes. It was still there in the shade mid afternoon. I had the roof down so we had to stop and run up and down a bit to keep warm.

being daft is fun and summer tyres are rubbish on snow and ice.
 
Borys, I support you. Here's why.

On several trips between Northern and Southern France, I've reached 1,000m above sea level and seen snow/ice on the roads, having to drive gingerly whilst shod with summer tyres. Yet before setting off, I never saw any forecasts of sub-zero temperatures or ice on those routes. I know this because I always check in order to not make the trip, or to do so on the warmest and driest day of the five-six day forecast. In every case where I travelled and yet saw snow/ice, the forecast was for temps above 3 Celsius at the lowest. I know enough about altitudes and temps to know the figures will be a few degrees lower than that. If I'd had winter tyres for some of my trips, I'd have saved probably an hour each way!

During winter three years ago, late at night, I had a scary moment in Northern France, about 30-45 mins before the tunnel (so not at altitude). Travelling at 80mph, I was passed by a French registered car and we were shortly hit by hailstones and icy conditions. I lifted off and braked gently to probably 40mph. My outside temperature gauge quickly moved from +3 degrees to -1.5, and the car that had passed me came off the road ahead of me. Luckily, he didn't hit anything. But thereafter, we continued at about 20-30mph for about another 10km, before emerging from the hail into sleety rain, and a rise in the temp gauge back to about 3 Celsius. I really wished I'd had winter tyres on that night. No forecasts for my route suggested this kind of event, nor sub-zero temperatures. Maybe it was a freak, but I doubt it - because I recall there were road signs warning of the danger of skidding cars and of ice.

You sceptics can search as high and as low as you wish for evidence to refute Borys' posts. I believe him. You're unlikely to find a forecast to match the conditions on the road as some of us have experienced. I know that I never ever set off on any of my long French trips when temperatures are forecast below 3 Celsius, day or night. Because I know the reality can be lower, and will certainly be so when I get to altitude.

Now, with Conti winter tyres on the W203 I drove so often through France, my big headache isn't making progress in the winter in the UK. It is knowing that most drivers around (mainly behind) me think I'm on summer tyres, and will assume they can match my winter tyre grip levels on their (likely) summer tyres. I had several near misses last year where cars clearly lost traction and skidded towards me or the kerb as they tried to keep up with me, especially when they took bends alongside me. So now I drive far more gingerly with my winter tyres on than I know I can (tested the limits last year). I also brake earlier to give the optimists behind plenty of time to avoid hitting me.

You don't have to have them on. And you don't have to believe in their merits. But it'd be a reasonable thing to expect that some of you'd just stop trying to discredit every post on the merits of winter tyres, just because you don't believe in them. :)
 
I left Edinburgh the other morning, the dash thing in my little BMW was showing 7C but out of town it soon dropped to 1C, puddles at the side of the road frozen.

40 miles down the road near Moffat it was snowing. Brilliant fun! Winter tyres are really good but I coped well on normal ones.



Is that number plate a reference to driving a 1 series in the snow, on summers?? :p


I have had 2 1 series btw, I love 'em, but shocking in the snow on summers.
 
In my experience the English like nothing more than to drive past a crash rubbernecking rather than stop and help. I've seen it time and time again, on one occasion a coach drove past an injured man lieing in the road belching diesel smoke all over him, so I agree with Borys in this instance.

My wife is a doctor so we always stop at an incident, it's funny how many times we're "first" on the scene yet didn't even see the crash happen!

In my experience the English like nothing more than to drive past a crash rubbernecking rather than stop and help.
.

Utter tosh and an insult to this forum

Sorry Harry but I've sat in many a traffic queue on the other side of the motorway the sole cause being people slowing down to gawp at others misfortune on the other side, it happens all the time. I find it a bit sick myself all these sicko's hoping to see a bit of gore. :wallbash:

I'm not sure whether it was true or not but whilst I served in Germany we were told that anyone with medical training caught NOT stopping to help someone involved in an RTA could POSSIBLY be prosecuted if serious injuries or death COULD have been prevented if they assisted. As I say I don't know whether this was true or not but it seemed like a reasonable thing to expect medically trained people to offer first aid. Having said all that you'd be more likely to get sued for helping someone in this country now than walking/driving on by IMO:doh:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom