Using Met Office data for where I live there are only 2 months out of 12 when the min temperature is 8+. In addition it rains more days than it doesn’t.

http://www.dunlop.eu/dunlop_uk/I_want_new_tyres/winter_tyres/Fitting_winter_tyres.jsp
http://www.dunlop.eu/dunlop_uk/I_want_new_tyres/winter_tyres/FAQs.jsp

http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/www/tyres_uk_en/themes/van-tyres/winter-tyres/why-winter-tyres.html
Michelin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyI_ymD3XCA

Vredestein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8m3pzxnD8c

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/Summer-VS-Winter-tyres-Warm-weather-performance.htm

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/11528952._The_Stig_s_version_of_the_Highway_Code_/

Winter tyres won’t work better than summer tyres when it’s wet and 20 deg.

Macavity – thank you to linking to the sales pitches of companies that want to sell you as many tyres as possible.

I’m not saying that winter tyres are not appropriate in some areas of the UK, just that some people are prepared to spend loads of cash for a tiny % of the year, and actually be less safe for the majority of the year.

Maybe where you live funkydunk but where i live and at the times i drive …..i dont fall into your assumption either.

Mean while ive been driving about on normal tires in the ice quite fine although ive had to be careful with route choice. as all 4 of my winters are on the mrs’ car.

Looking forward to next year , will have a 4×4 again. Having to use the main roads is unbarable.

Just bitten the bullet and ordered some, getting them fitted tomorrow. Goodrich something-or-others. My other half lives in the borders, the roads where she lives are not gritted. I really struggled getting up a hill in 1/2″ of snow a couple of weeks ago with summer tyres less than 5k miles old. I’m moving there next month.
.
We had winter tyres fitted to one of the company cars at work, I rang the insurers and told them and they said they didn’t need to know.
Wasn’t planning on telling mine, the standard spec is 15″ wheels with 195/70 tyres and I’m keeping it at that.
Bought 3 second hand wheels, £10 each from scrappy, so with the spare I can have a set with each kind of tyre and swap around whenever i want, rather than have to pay someone else to do it twice a year. My spare will always be mismatched of course, the opposite of what the four on the van are but as I’ve never used one yet in 120k+ miles I’ll chance it, will just have to be careful if I ever do need it.

Like this?

If you are reluctant to change tyres and have nowhere to store summer tyres when they are not in use, you are better off using winter tyres all year round.

Winter tyres are as quiet and comfortable as summer tyres and, thanks to sophisticated compound technology, do not wear any more quickly.

There is a slight trade off with stopping distances as a winter tyre does not stop as quickly in the dry as a summer tyre, however, on balance if it is not possible to switch tyres in the winter, experts say you are better off with winter tyres all year round. This is because the difference in stopping distances of summer tyres in winter is far greater than for winter tyres in the summer.That’s a pretty shit sales pitch

Unless you live properly out in t sticks (and then you’d probably have a good 4wd) winter tyres are only as good as the ones on the stuck cars in front of you or the ones on the car that’s about to hit you up the arse. Waste of time until it’s made compulsory.

As with many things STW, it’s those who haven’t tried who are the most fervent in arguing against.

4x4s without Winter tyres are no better than anything else when it comes to steering and braking and lull people into a false sense of security. The cars abandoned in the car parks and lay-byes on the way up to the resort are a mixed bag of cars without Winter tyres (or chains). The ones off the road or crashed on the way down are often 4x4s that got up without Winter tyres but failed to make it down. Notably BMW X-things which simply will not stop even at very moderate speeds. This is a flat car park. Imagine that on a 13% descent with a bend at the bottom.

wrightyson – Member

Unless you live properly out in t sticks (and then you’d probably have a good 4wd) winter tyres are only as good as the ones on the stuck cars in front of you or the ones on the car that’s about to hit you up the arse. Waste of time until it’s made compulsory.

I live in one of the biggest cities in the country, and you are talking absolute pish.

from what i hear – it sounds like the in town housing schemes locally are the hardest hit and most in need of winter tires to get out as they simply dont grit them.

quite right too , they are in walking distance of everything they need – except their work.

my road gets gritted every week day at 6.45 ready for the rural school bus at 7.30

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/8388582/Getting-to-grips-with-winter-tyres.html

“Recent outrage over insurers raising premiums for winter tyre fitment has largely subsided. Many say they no longer require notification provided the tyres are “correct for the vehicle and professionally fitted”. The message may not have filtered down from head offices to call centres, though, so demand confirmation.”

I live on a hill in rural Derbyshire and we started using them on both cars this year. Since I fitted them in the first week of November the temperature gauge on my car has been below 7C on all apart from 5 days. Gritting even on A roads round here is poor and we have icy patches regularly- having one extra line of defence sounds like a good thing, especially when it doesn’t cost any extra (based on swapping wheels and your tyres lasting for effectively double the time).

I have not informed my insurer, and they aren’t even listed on the Abi document despite being a big firm which has got me a little worried.

But I’m more likely to drive in snow with my winter tyres than I would be without them, so who knows how the actual risk weighs up.

I do worry about everyone on winter tyres having too much faith in them- you are still driving in inclement conditions, the road is still slippy. My policy is to drive as if I don’t have them, then the margin of error is much greater. It is tempting to think “I have winter tyres, I’ll drive up that/a bit faster/go out today when I wouldn’t normally” but you do have to rein yourself in.

I do worry about everyone on winter tyres having too much faith in them

That’s pretty much what my insurer said to me. The accident rate for cars with winter tyres “might” be high because people go out and drive in conditions that they otherwise wouldn’t.

The flip side to that is perhaps that simply thinking about ways to make your vehicle safer in winter probably puts you higher up on the list of safe drivers? If you could see the idiots and the driving I see on the A82 during ski season, it amazes me that some people make it through life.

Idiots on A82. I got stuck in this on Sunday. People just don’t seem to engage their brains.