Driving in bad weather requires even greater levels of concentration and is therefore more tiring than driving in good weather conditions. If your journey requires you to be on the road for longer than two hours you will need to take a break to maintain good levels of concentration.

Steps to avoid trouble in bad weather:

• Always look well ahead to be aware of the road conditions and slow down if necessary,
• Use dipped headlights in poor visibility,
• Slow down if there is a lot of road surface water,
• Keep a safe distance from any vehicles in front of you - stopping distances should be doubled in wet weather.
• Be especially cautions in first rains after a prolonged dry period. The rain will wash grease and spilt diesel out of the road surface and make conditions particularly slippery.
• Avoid the use of rear fog lights as they can dazzle the driver behind you and impair their vision especially when combined with a lot of water spray off the roads.

It is important that windscreen wipers are kept in good working condition particularly during the rainy season.

The best advice is to use common sense when driving in bad weather conditions.

There are some useful products on the market to assist with keeping good visibility during bad weather conditions. Ombrello is used as a water repellent for windscreens. It penetrates the glass top layer by a chemical reaction and seals the surface in such a way that water drops and dirt are carried away by the airstream at speeds over 40MPH. Water rolls off immediately even in the worst weather conditions such as rain and snow.

Additional car care is also a vital part of safe driving particularly in bad weather conditions such as maintaining the exterior bodywork, ensuring the car battery is in good working condition, tyre treads are in optimal condition and tyres pumped to the correct pressure, brakes in good working condition and all the mechanics of the car are in good working condition and rust proofed.