Many on here will recall that I pretty much nailed the forecast for last winter in October. I correctly called that it would be relentlessly mild, wet and windy and overall it was a pathetic excuse for a winter.

Far too early for even me to make a prediction but I have done some research and I can tell you that last winter saw a very rare combination of events including high solar activity that gave us such a rubbish winter with hardly any frost let alone snow. This is extremely unlikely to be repeated.

An El Nino event may peak at the end of the year and with an easterly phase in charge this year, early models suggest a colder winter. We cannot take these seriously at this stage but my boss at work said her tree has got a shed load more berries on than last year. Vast quantites in fact. The old story is that loads of berries means a harsh winter because the berries help the birds stock up on food. We had big crops of berries in the build up to the 2010 snowmageddon.

Too early for my forecast but I would be very surprised if we saw relentless mild sh*t again this time.

I know not much frost never used my heated front screen! Only the back once

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Better get some snow chains now then

I love snow...

Hmm...time to be asking my boss for a Caribbean trip over Christmas then lol

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I hope we get lots of snow again.

I love driving in the snow. It's just the idiots in their rwd auto bmw etc that !Removed! me off.

In 2010 there was a lady outside my work stuck in the snow. I went out with a shovel to help her get going. When she tried pulling off her car was dipping at the back. I stood back and laughed my head off for 5 mins. Then told her to take her handbrake off. Lol.

You cam have soo much fun in the snow. It turns grown men into little kids. Even without cars.

Bring on the snow.

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Driving in the snow is ace! It's a nice challenge to do.

There were a big dump of the stuff back in 20012 or 2012 just before Christmas. The M40 coming up from London was completely covered in next to no time. It was like something from Mad Max. Lorries under taking, Lorries out in the third lane, cars going side ways, cars tailgating, cars crawling along. And a lot of German cars stuck on the side!

Best case was the two cocky lads in the Golf following me. I was holding 65mph with a very traffic free run ahead of me (any higher than that and the car got fruity). I came up to a long left turn (Northbound between J8 and 9) that slopes up towards the central reservations. Golf boys decided they'd go for it and over take me on that particular bit of road.

Up to 70- 75mps they went. high up the slope they went, and side slide down the slope they went in front of me, into the hard shoulder and up into the curb and through the posts along the edge.

I near !Removed! my pants and they sheepishly came back in behind me to follow my lead.

Then there was the near virgin snow coming off J9 and heading west on the A34. So much fun! The B road off of that was an absolute hoot!

I kept waking up to the same music for several days and then my groundhog said I had best order a new supply of willy warmers.

Amazon do them extra large which is useful.

Aye I agree I love snow ..never had the chance to drive in it so can't wait

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Aye I agree I love snow ..never had the chance to drive in it so can't wait

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Just make sure your first time isn't also the last time for your car.....

Lol I know. Gonna get good winter tyres first my Yokohamas won't do the job

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I always say I'm not going to drive in the snow to get to work but then always do for some reason lol. Empty carparks are great fun! It's just getting to them that concerns me, I can drive in a way that's safe for the conditions but it's the people following you or going to fast at junctions that put you at risk. That said I'm definitely not taking the ST anywhere long distance in the snow, can't see the grip being that good if present at all .

I remember going round a 90 degree corner downhill in my first car in the work carpark, I decided to floor it to see what would happen (expecting to just keep going straight), but instead the back swung out and I did a 180 then slid back and sideways a fair bit. Still not sure why that happened, it's not like a Fiesta is rwd or anything . Unless it was simply because I sped up a bit and that was too much for the rear tyres to handle on the corner lol. Then in that same carpark my Fiesta Zetec-S couldn't get up the incline out so I had to get a push from two people. Never saw anyone else having issues there. Good memories.

I sampled some light snow after I passed my test in 2003 for a few winters but the first proper snow was 2008/2009 winter when I had the mk6.5 Fez ST. Apart from the odd moment of lost traction, the ST coped admirably. I then went through a Land Rover phase and had a couple of Freelander 2's. Absolutely laughed at snow. Even the 2010 snow.

I had Continental winter tyres fitted to my 2013 Fez ZS last winter which was a waste as it was relentless mild. Have posted them for sale as they won't fit the ST but now contemplating a purchase of 16" rims so I can get through what should hopefully be a colder winter with less worries.

New snow tyres and front wheel drive is pure pleasure in the snow. Hand brake on full lock and wheel spin out of a parking space great fun.

Ford esp system is very good, I drove through a massive puddle the thing was atleast 50 meters at 70 mph, I could literally take my hand off the wheel and the car continued straight on, esp light flashing etc I was impressed.

One thing to note though is keep an eye on your engine temperature, even though it's cold, slow moving traffic and lots of engine reving can cause your car to overheat and that includes brake fluids

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that last bad snow we had,it was total gridlock in my town so everyone was using the rat runs,1 i took was a RATHER STEEP HILL and once i had committed myself there was no stopping me ,its one of those hills were there are cars parked on both sides of the road with only the middle allowing you through.WELL i filled my pants going down that i was in my ford galaxy and no word of a lie i must have slid down it all the way,because everytime i hit the brakes it was sending me of at a tangent,if there had been any cars comming up the hill well we wouldve been fubared.this took me about 20 mins to navigate down the thing and once i reached the bottom of it i rolled my self a ciggie and sat there looking back up at it and vowing never ever to be a div like that again.

im possibly the only person hoping for no snow this year, as im terrified of driving in the snow, over the last 2 years ive lost 2 cars in the snow (most likely down to my lack of ability to drive in the snow but thankfully no other party involved) this has had a massive affect on my driving (also of being a passenger in a car on snow)

i drove my focus in the snow last year which is where i was recommended to buy some snow socks which helped my driving a lot,

its a real shame our winters are very regular or stable so that we could learn to cope instead of winging it every winter

Vince, if ever there was a person who would benefit from every penny of the outlay for good winter tyres, it's you. I've got a set of continental TS850's from my fiesta ZS which are the king of kings in winter tyres according to reviews. I have advertised them for sale as they won't fit the ST but now considering buying a set of 16" wheels so I can still use them.

Snow socks are a faff and only used on snow. Winter tyres offer superior grip and braking in any condition when temps dip below +7C. That's why they are called winter tyres not snow tyres. Big difference when braking in rain at +4C for example.

Another way to think about it is that while you are using the winter tyres, you aren't wearing out the tread on your normal tyres so both sets last longer. Your concerns would be reduced big time with winter tyres.

I know what ya mean about the snow socks they dont half hurt ya hands especially when it is below freezing outside, ive never had the space to store 2 sets of wheels but no im moving house Ill have the room so might look into having a set of winter tyres on steelies, ive never had or used winter tyres, ive used all season tyres

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I hope we do have some snow again as I also like driving init

bring it on whooooooo lol

Tell you what Vince, if I decide to sell my winter tyres afterall, I will keep you posted as these are a good price: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/57774-full-set-of-virtually-new-winter-tyres/

I've got so much top quality winter clothing and boots (mostly North Face) that I could bail out and walk to or from work if I didn't have winter tyres and got stuck lol (5.2 miles on foot from home to work). That's one reason amongst others that I am mulling over.

back to Asda I go for a set of tyre socks...

I have some for sale if anyone wants to get prepared! ;)

Ok guys, I think it is forecast time. There are many more factors in our favour this year if we are looking for a cold winter but I am forecasting an average to mild winter.

I don't think it will be the relentless mild, wind and rain of last winter but we are looking at copius amounts of atlantic systems rolling in with wind and rain and mild temps. Snow and frost will be at a premium at times but unlike last winter, we should see some colder spells with some chances of snow and ice at lower levels.

I think the 'proper winters' like 08/09 and 10/11 for example, are over. We are in a rut of horrible mild winters or average winters and I think it will be 2 years yet before we get back into cold potential.

My overall confidence in this forecast is not as high as last winter due to some interesting factors that I have heard about and once again I want to be wrong and see snow mania.

Sadly, I nailed it last winter.

If you don't make it as a solicitor you have another career path lol

the last time it snowed and last winter even with just the ice last year i didnt get winter tyres and i got on just fine. I have being eying a set of alloys with winter tyres on them that are left sitting in the work place just cant figure out how to get them passed the 100+ cameras with out anyone noticing :P nah i think ill just get a new set of reg tyres and go again why not worked last time.

i have great fun in the snow like the rest of you its the idiots that we need to worry about.

I like driving in the snow too, it's like an adventure not knowing if you'll make it home after work lol. Also this is my first car with traction control, not to mention torque vectoring, so will be interesting to see how it fares in the snow (with regular tyres).

I bought myself a new set of snow socks of the Internet. I tend to be fine on winter but it's good to know they are there.