Lucy likes winter driving

Picture the scene. You're driving along to visit friends or family over the Christmas holidays. You're excited and you're nice and warm in your car with the heater on. You turn up the radio and hum along happily. The Christmas lights float by the window.

Then your car grinds to a halt. Oh dear, you didn't use any anti-freeze and your engine has just stopped working.

Lucy likes the essentials for winter driving

Christmas could easily involve a long journey in your car to visit friends or family, but as they say in the army: fail to prepare. prepare to fail. Hopefully these essentials should help you avoid any 'epic fails' if your car does break down.

You could prevent the frozen engine problem with this ready-mixed AntiFreeze and Coolant, which is just £2.99 with free shipping, from amazon.co.uk (while stocks last).

If you do break down in the cold, you might be seriously grateful for a warm blanket while you wait by the roadside. This stripy and seriously soft blanket is reduced from £15.99 to £9.99 from dunelm-mill.com.

A warm drink probably wouldn't go amiss if you just fancy a pit-stop, or you're waiting to be towed. ALDI has a 2-pack of thermo mugs for just £4.99.

Be prepared anytime, anywhere - carry a torch on your set of keys, just in case you break down in the dark. This LED keyring torch is only £1.62 from ffx.co.uk.

Keep some wet wipes in your glove box just in case you get your hands dirty under the bonnet, or changing a tyre. You can buy three packets of these fragrance-free wipes from boots.com for just £3.

According tonhs.uk, ginger can help people manage the nausea associated with travel sickness. Try these Gin Gins spicy ginger hard sweets, 84g for just £1.89 from hollandandbarrett.com.

Finally, ladies: if you'd like a practical shoe that can grip in bad weather but still has fashion chutzpah, then these snow-grips for high heels from theaa.com could be just your thing. They're reduced to just £11.95.

Safety check for winter driving

Whenever travelling on a long journey in your car, it's always advisable to take the following safety measures first:

• check the pressure of your tyres;
• check the engine coolant and oil;
• check the windscreen wipers and clean them if necessary to avoid streaky windows, and take some spare screen wash with you;
• check you have breakdown cover and the number to call in the event of a breakdown;
• check your indicators and lights at the front and rear are all in working order. Halfords.com has an online service which helps you find the correct bulbs for your car - and they can fit them too.

How do you prepare for long car journeys in the winter? Do you have any tips you could share with our readers? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. And if you liked this article, please share it!

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