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A tyre pressure warning on a cold November morning is not automatically a disaster, but it is not background decoration either. Here is how UK drivers can tell normal cold-weather pressure loss from a slow puncture, a tired sensor or kerb damage, and what to do at the kerbside before driving on.
Most new cars now arrive with a compressor and a bottle of milky liquid instead of a spare wheel. It works brilliantly for one narrow problem and not at all for the damage a British kerb or pothole tends to cause — especially once the temperature drops.
Every graze, bulge and faded date code on a tyre sidewall is a record of where your car has been and how hard it landed. Here's how to read that record at the kerb, work out which marks are harmless, and spot the ones that will fail an MOT or let go at 70mph.
Potholes, broken drain covers and raised ironwork can turn a routine kerbside pass into a wheel repair. Here is the five-minute evidence routine to use before you call the council, plus the warning signs that mean you should stop driving.
Before the gritters arrive, spend 15 minutes at the kerb checking the bits that cold, wet and salty roads punish most. Here are 12 winter checks, with the DIY jobs and the ones that need a garage.