Van News Story - VansA2Z.com

Cold weather tyres forecast for this winter

Exacta Weather’s meteorologist James Madden, who correctly predicted the UK’s last two consecutive bad winters, has warned that he believes the coming one will ‘break all records’.

“The UK should brace itself for well below average temperatures and widespread heavy snowfall throughout winter 2011/2012, which will result in the fourth bad winter in succession for the UK, and will prove to be the worst of them all,” Madden warns. “I fully expect records to be broken, with the Highlands of Scotland being once again particularly hard hit. It is vital to start preparing now.”

This depressing prospect has been flagged-up by ATS Euromaster which ran out of winter tyres late last year, such was the demand. It offers a tyre-swop and storage plan.

Fitment of winter tyres is compulsory in many northern European countries and although this unlikely to happen in the UK, a set of winter tyres are definitely worth consideration in certain, high altitude parts of the country like Scotland and Wales; even if the weather doesn’t turn out to be as bad as the prediction.

Cold weather tyres use a higher concentration of silica to prevent the rubber hardening when the temperature falls below 7°C, together with a specially designed tread pattern which ensures they provide better grip, handling, cornering and reduced braking distances. VansA2Z has experience of these tyres on compacted snow in both vans and cars and can confirm that the additional grip they supply is quite astonishing.

Chris Hufflett, group operations director at ATS Euromaster says: “Those organisations that fitted cold weather tyres last year were able to keep going in spite of the conditions and they will be the ones who will keep moving again this winter. European demand is so strong that there simply aren't going to be enough cold weather tyres in the UK to go around so it'll be first-come, first-served. Any organisations which wait until the snow begins to fall could be disappointed.”

Click here for the full long-range forecast.