7 winter essentials for your car
With colder temperatures here to stay for a while, here's how to stay safe when you're in the driving seat.
With the cold weather seemingly here to stay and many roads hazardous, make sure you and your car are prepped for challenging conditions. In wintry weather, you can find yourself stranded for several hours so it's important to plan ahead. If there's any likelihood of frost, ice or snow, make sure you don't leave home without a winter driving survival kit.
GH tip: save time scraping windscreens in the cold before you set off by covering them. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, even some flattened sheets of a cardboard box or an old picnic blanket work a treat!
Breakdown Kit
AA Breakdown and Emergency Kit
From breakdowns to snow storms, a winter car kit is a must-have item. The AA-Emergency winter car kit includes a foldable snow shovel, high visibility vest, foil blanket, LED torch, snow & ice grips, booster cables and waterproof ponchos.
Price: £35
Road Atlas
Great Britain Super Scale Road Atlas
When disaster strikes, you can't always rely on technology. Having a road atlas can be extremely handy when coverage on your mobile is bad or you don't have sat nav in your car. The Great Britain Super Scale A-Z Road Atlas 2022 is a useful thing to have in the glove compartment anytime of the year but particularly in winter.
Price: £11.19
Screen-wash and WD 40
Extra screen-wash is essential in your car during winter as grit and muck can build up on your windscreen making it difficult to see out of when on the move. Also keep a can of de-icer or WD-40 on hand to de-freeze frozen locks. Do not pour hot water on frozen locks as this will only increase the amount of water inside and result in the problem reoccurring. And never force the key to turn a frozen car lock.
Price: £8.99
Travel Blanket
In the event of an accident or breakdown, a blanket will provide a bit of extra warmth.
Price: £13.99
Portable power charger pack
Juice ECO MAX Power Bank – 20,000mAh
We rely on our phones to do pretty much everything, but all that multitasking takes its toll on your battery life. Portable power banks or phone chargers are ideal to see you through a few hours when your phone is dangerously low. The Juice Eco MAX power bank charger is a really useful travel companion in your car. It provides 7 full charges and can charge 3 devices at once.
Price: £29.99
Waterproof seal tight bags
Yumqua waterproof bag and pouches - set of 3
With flooding an increasing problem, a small waterproof bag is a good idea to keep in your car for your wallet, phone and keys. You may have something suitable already but we like the Yumqua waterproof bags and pouches. It makes sense, too, to keep a packable hooded rain mac in the car.
Price: £9.98
Sunglasses
Ray-Ban Black Matte Erika Sunglasses
The low winter sun can cause a reflective glare that is particularly dangerous so having a pair of sunglasses in the glove box in winter is as important as it is during the summer months.
Price: £132
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