It's the UK, we can expect anything at any time.

The day might start off with freezing conditions, followed by wind and rain, then bright sunlight, and later in the day temperatures can drop and we end up with dense fog. 
The UK weather is always a lottery and we never know what's coming next, so it's best to be prepared for all of it.

Typical UK weathers

Sun
Wind
Rain
Snow/Ice
Fog
Temperature change

Sun

Just because we've grown up with relatively good weather and know or think we know how to deal with it,
when it comes to driving, it is a whole new ball game of things we may need to adapt to.

  • Glare can affect your vision ahead, behind or to the sides of you, which may make it very hard to see when emerging from or turning into junctions. It can mask a vehicles brake lights ahead of you or it can blind you when its low in the sky behind you when looking into your door or rear view mirrors which will make seeing vehicles behind or to the sides of you virtually impossible. Sun visors are fitted to all cars for a reason, use them if necessary to assist with your vision.
  • Keeping your windscreen clean outside AND inside can reduce glare.
  • Leave a bigger gap between you and the vehicle in front of you if your vision is impaired due to the sun.
  • When roads are wet and the sun is low in the sky, this can cause various issues in seeing road markings.
  • You may not see traffic lights change, a pedestrian walk into the road, you may not be able to see lane markings or end up on the wrong side of the road amongst other things.
  • The Sun can cause temperature to rise so much that Tarmac begins to melt.
  • The temperature in a car with closed windows will increase very quickly, leaving anyone in a closed vehicle can be extremely dangerous to the extent of fatalities. Animals and children are especially at risk.
  • Things could explode in a car if the temperatures became too hot. Canned or bottled drinks, cigarette lighters, Cans of lubricant such as WD40, even something as basic as food could end up melting all over the seats requiring the car to need valeting.
  • Later in the day as the sun starts to set, there may be a lack of natural light and it can often seem not dark enough to put lights on, but if you are ever in doubt, make yourself more visible by putting your headlights on. If you have running daylight headlights or automatic headlights be VERY mindful that it may be dark enough to turn your lights on but not dark enough for the automatic lights to have kicked in, this may mean that you will only have running daylight lights on which on a lot of modern vehicles does NOT include rear lights.
  • If you wear prescription glasses, and you want to wear sunglasses. You have two options:- you must either purchase prescription sunglasses. or purchase a set of clip on sunglasses that clip over your normal prescription glasses. You cannot wear normal sunglasses if you have a 01 restriction on your driving licence.
  • Prolonged exposure to the sun during driving increases the risk related to health issues. The sun emits two types of ultraviolet rays (UVA and UVB), both of which can impact people's eyes and skin health.
  • Things you need to be mindful of in hot weather.
  • Open windows to remove hot air from the car before using the Air Conditioning.
  • Keep windows open if you are leaving pets in a car, (ideally just don't have them in there in the first place if you intend leaving them in there)
  • Ensure not that you regularly hydrate as being dehydrated can carry the same affects on the body as being under the influence of alcohol. Your reaction times will become slower.
  • If there has been a period of dry weather, and there is a spot of rain, the roads surface will be quite slippery due to a build up of substances emitted from vehicle's exhausts. After a prolonged period of rain this coating gets washed away. 

WIND

WIND tends to be the least of car drivers concerns out of all the different weather conditions we have to deal with in the UK.
However! It has as many dangers as any of the other weather conditions. Some of the items below need to be considered when it is windy.

  • High sided vehicles
  • Small children and frail people
  • Motorbikes and cyclists
  • The Disabled
  • Open areas of land can cause strong gusts
  • Property such as wheelie bins being blown into the road on bin days
  • Trees being blown down

Take a look at this video to see how the wind can make a calm situation a bit messy in a very short space of time.

RAIN

The level of rain we get in the UK can change deeply.
Sometimes we'll get the lightest of showers that come to nothing and is gone as quickly as it started,
however we can get days or even weeks of continuous rain,
and of late the level of rain we are getting seems to be getting more year on year.

  • One of the biggest factor to consider on wet roads is your stopping distance. The standard dry road safe following distance is deemed at being 2 seconds away fro the vehicle in front of you. On wet roads this distance should be doubled to a minimum of 4 seconds.
  • Depending on the condition of your tyre tread the stopping distance can change vastly form a new tyre to one that is at the minimum legal tread depth of 1.6mm                                                                                Tests conducted on a tyre with 3mm of tread would stop at 70mph within 91 metres. Compared with a tyre that has only 1.6mm of tread, it would take an additional 44mtrs to come to a stop (135mtrs).                                  This is roughly 11 car lengths!
  • In rain your vision is reduced. Use wipers and switch your lights on
  • In rain the noise of the rain on your car and road noise can make hearing things more difficult as well. Open your windows at junctions where visibility is reduced so that you may hear what you cannot see.
  • Avoid puddles! a puddle is potentially a big hole! you con't know how deep it is until you drive through it, by which time you may find out much deeper than you thought, which could throw your car across the road, could cause damage to your tyres or wheel or both. Could damage suspension units or shock absorbers, track rods, steering racks etc.
  • If you cannot avoid a puddle due to oncoming traffic then slow right down to a crawl. This will reduce any potential damage to your vehicle and avoid splashing anyone on the pavement. If it is deemed you have deliberately splashed a pedestrian the penalty is now a fine of up to £5000
  • Aquaplaning is a real danger when a car is driving relatively fast and hit sitting water that has a volume larger than your tyre tread can displace quickly enough to keep traction to the roads surface. In its most basic format, Aquaplaning is your car floating on top of the water. You will have ZERO steering ability and ZERO Braking ability! The only way to rescue your car if at all possible, is to get off the accelerator pedal quickly! The friction being created by your tyres on the water will naturally slow your car down and the car will sink back onto the roads surface and you will regain control of the car.
  • NEVER use cruise control when it is raining.
  • We've all seen the Youtube or TikToc videos of people driving through flood water and killing their engines. This is called Hydrolocking.        Hydrolocking happens when water enters the air-intake of the engine. Water cannot be compressed and therefore when the water enters the air-intake it literally blows up your engine. The best way if you must drive through water, is to drive through VERY SLOWLY, riding the clutch to keep the speed of the car slow, but keeping the revs of the car high so that water doesn't reverse travel up the exhaust and hydrolock the engine in reverse. If you are unsure of the height of your car air intake it would be much safe to turn around and go another way rather than attempt to drive through the water. If you come across a Ford where water naturally flows across a road, ALWAYS check the depth marker first. Some fords can get to 6 foot deep. If you ever travel through flood water or a Ford, ALWAYS check you brakes once you leave the water to ensure your brakes a fully effective. If you find that they are weaker than usual, drive for a short distance with your left foot gently on the footbrake so that your brake pads warm up and dry them out. keep doing this until your brakes have achieved their usual power.
  • Change your wiper blades annually. Wipers are not meant to last a lifetime! through a year the wipers will get embedded with all sort of chemicals and oils from the road as well as dealing with hot and cold weathers that reduce the quality of them. Changing them annually will ensure when they need to do they job, they will. Regular changing of your wipers will also ensure that you window will be smear free when they are needed, the risk of scratching the windscreen will reduce, and the reduced drag factor on the windscreen will ensure that the lifespan of the wiper motor will be increased.

SNOW/ICE

We all love a bit of Snow don't we?
But yet again as with all the other weather conditions, it comes with its own dangers.

  • Snow brings a bigger danger than rain when it comes to stopping distances and following distances. If there is snow or Ice on the road and you have to travel in it (ideally, don't if you can get away with it, it's safer) the following distance should be 10 times greater than a standard dry road surface. Therefore you will need a safe following distance of a minimum of 20 seconds between you and the vehicle you are following.
  • Always move off in the highest gear that you car will allow you to. 1st gear (especially on hills) will cause wheelspin and possibly make you car go backwards instead of forwards. 
  • If you have traction control facility on your car and you get stuck in mud snow or ice, it can be helpful to turn it off, in these conditions, the traction control system will slow down your wheels, which can make it harder for your car to gain momentum and dig through the substance, to assist in getting you out. But remember to switch it back on again once you are out.
  • Always ensure if you have to travel in snow or ice that you are prepared. Think of some of these items as essential before travelling :-
  • A full tank of fuel
  • A charged mobile phone and a charger in the car
  • Additional clothing and possibly a blanket in case you get stranded
  • Some food and a hot drink
  • A shovel to dig yourself out if necessary
  • De-icer and an Ice scraper
  • Hi-Viz clothing you might end up walking in a blizzard and not be seen easily
  • Jump leads in case you get a flat battery someone may be able to jump start you
  • An empty fuel can in case you run out
  • A torch and maybe flashing beacons to notify recovery of your location
  • A warning triangle that can be placed a distance from you vehicle to notify others
  • Sunglasses. A white out can end up being quite painful on your eyes
  • A first aid kit
  • In extreme cases Snow chains and a tow rope
  • A map
  • Ensure others are aware of your journey, the route you intend taking, your departure time and expected arrival time.

Things NOT to do when driving in snow

DO NOT Move off in 1st gear- Select as high a gear as possible to avoid wheelspin
Accelerate heavily - this will also cause wheelspin. Unless you are playing around in snow in a safe environment,
you will NEVER want to be accelerating heavily in snow or ice you will just lose control of the car.

Steer sharply - could cause the car to go into a skid and cause you to lose control of the car.
Plan ahead so you can adjust your speed so as to not need to steer sharply

Brake heavily - will cause a skid and cause you to lose control of the car. Brake earlier and gentler.

FOG

In driving terms it should stand for FOOT OFF GAS!
In other words, SLOW DOWN!

  • Fog can just appear instantly depending on water vapor in the air. This condenses into tiny water droplets and causes Fog. This happens when the air temperature cools to the dew point, the temperature at which condensation occurs. Fog forms in a similar way to a cloud, the only difference is that it forms closer to the ground. Fog tends to form in areas where there is lots of water nearby.
  • The density of the fog can change vastly from area to area and can be formed when moist air mixes with cooler drier air, or when the ground radiates heat that it has absorbed during the day, this heat then meets cool air, or when cold air passes over warm air or moist land.
  • The density of Fog can catch a lot of driver out. When in a matter of seconds the visibility can drop to literally nothing and you can't see past your hand. When this happens, you will not have a clue what is a couple of metres ahead of you and this is dangerous. What do you do? Do you keep driving and find you plough into a vehicle in front of you, or do you slow down and get ploughed into from behind? Or do you pull in so you are not on the road and park up until visibility increase again? This is a decision only you can make. Our advice you would be that it depends on the density of the fog. As soon as you see fog and visibility is less than 100mtrs, ensure you get your fog lights on, and reduce your speed. If it looks like the fog is getting thicker, then seriously think about finding a safe place to pull in, out of the way of other traffic and wait for the fog to clear. 
  • Fog can play tricks on your mind. It may cause you to misjudge your speed. The speed of other vehicles. Whether another vehicle is actually moving or not. Can make it harder for you to spot hazards.

Temperature changes

Obviously, we have already discussed how temperature changes can cause Fog,
but if can also create changing conditions very quickly within the confines of your car.

  • A warm sunny day that has a quick change of temperature and a quick shower can cause all the windows inside you car to mist up very quickly making it very hard for you to see out.
  • You can get the polar opposite of this on a cold winters day, and suddenly the sun comes out and heats the air within the confines of your car very quickly which causes mist to form on your windows.
  • If this happens there are two /three options to resolve the situation.
  • 1. PULL IN and wait for the windows to demist
  • 2. GET ALL THE WINDOWS OPEN to match the inside and outside temperature. The windows should clear relatively quickly.
  • 3. Get your Air conditioning system on full blast. Air conditioning has a great way of taking moisture out of the air and should clear your windows quite quickly.


With ALL of the options listed above, there will be good and bad depending on how quickly or how intensely the windows mist up.

But irrelevant of any of the options above,

IF YOU CANNOT SEE WHERE YOU ARE GOING, YOU ARE PUTTING YORSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE IN DANGER,

SO STOP and resolve the situation!


REMEMBER!

YOU CANNOT HIT ANYTHING IF YOU ARE NOT MOVING!

In Summary

ALL weather conditions have their benefits and their pitfalls, but to become a safe and confident driver, you will need to experience ALL of them.
A learner who starts their driving lessons in MAY and takes their test in JULY or AUGUST of the same year. and all their lessons were held between 9am and 3pm, will probably not have got to experience all of these different weather conditions or driving in the dark.
Are they prepared to be a full licence holder?
I would say 100% NO!

If you are one of these learners who has passed their test without experiencing all these conditions, I would highly recommend you have a chat with your past instructor or any that may be available to gain some additional experience driving in conditions that you have not experienced before.

Maybe even consider a Pass Plus course.

There might not be someone sat next to you to assist you when your have to experience these for your first time and it can be a scary time.

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