Streetlife

Don't even think of it Lucy T.

Snow chains are very effective in snow, but when you come off ungritted country roads and onto a gritted highway they will chew your tyres to shreds.

You have a few options as follows:

1.  Buy a set of snow socks. These wrap around the tyres like a snow chain but will not damage the tyres when the car gets on a snow and ice free road. The socks however will deteriorate but are cheaper than tyres!

2.  Invest in a set of spare wheels fitted with winter tyres. Normal tyres start to harden at 7 degrees centergrade, the treads fill with snow and it is like travelling on frozen slicks.  Winter tyres have extra silicone, which keeps them soft & supple in freezing conditions and the tyre treads are designed to suck into the surface. An expensive initial outlay but will pay for itself over the years.

3.  Next time you buy tyres buy intermediate. Not as good as winter tyres on the snow but one hell of a lot better than driving on normal tyres.

I hope this sheds some light on the winter driving problem/solution, not only to yourself but also to other readers out there.

David S.

Given the dates I'd assumed Lucy was driving to the alps for some skiing - where in many areas snow chains are a legal requirement.

Thanks for this advice, very useful indeed. I will think about what do do..