Five cheap ways to defrost your windscreen WITHOUT wasting petrol or grappling with de-icer on freezing early mornings

WINTER is well and truly here as parts of the UK experience temperatures as low as -11 earlier this week.

As the deep freeze sweeps the nation, blanketing Brits in up to four inches of snow, plenty of drivers will wake to the unwelcome sight of a frosted over windscreen.

Many a motorist has spent miserable, freezing mornings hacking away with an ice scraper or waiting an eternity for the heater to clear even the tiniest gap.

Fortunately, we at SunMotors have compiled a list of the top time-saving tricks you can use you beat the chill and get on the road in moments.

Best of all, they're all cheap and don't force you to use up extra fuel, especially as pump prices rocket.

Making use of these tips can even save you a £2,500 fine for driving with an obstructed view - just make sure to clear the full breadth of the windscreen and all windows before setting out.

Bottled up

If you enjoyed chemistry at school you may remember that water freezes at zero degrees.

This is precisely what happens on your windscreen as the mercury plummets overnight in winter, with moisture condensing on the cold glass before turning solid in sub-zero conditions.

So an easy way to solve that issue is by mixing the water with another substance to lower its freezing point.

Unlike water, pure alcohol has a freezing point of -114C, which is why summer delights like frozen margaritas aren't just a block of ice.

All you need to do is decant a bit of methylated spirit or rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle and spritz it onto the frozen windscreen.

This will drop the freezing point below the air temperature and cause the ice to melt within a few minutes.

In the bag

In a similar vein to the first tip, if you can't lower the freezing point, you have to raise the temperature.

A neat way to do this is to run some water from a warm (but not hot) tap into a sealable plastic bag.

You can then rub this gently across the frozen glass, heating the ice and causing it to melt.

Just make sure that the water isn't too warm for reasons we'll explain down below.

Help is at Halfords

Now, we know we said you wouldn't have to slave away with an ice scraper.

But Halfords is selling a super-affordable gadget that is the Ferrari Enzo to the average ice scraper's VW Beetle.

The 3-in-1 squeegee and scraper includes a plastic head to clear ice, a rubber blade to wipe away excess water and a foam strip to dry the glass and prevent re-freezing.

You can get all that for just £1.79.

And if that doesn't feel worth it, a similar tool is on sale at B&M right now for just £1.

Take cover

All those tricks for de-icing your car are great, but why de-ice if you can prevent it from even forming in the first place?

One great way to do this is to cover the windscreen overnight.

This prevents water from condensing on the glass so it won't freeze up.

Halfords sells a specially-designed, weighted cover for just £5.

Or, if it's not going to be too windy, you can drape anything from a blanket to an old curtain over the pane for the same effect.

Just make sure that your cover is dry before putting it out or the moisture could seep through and render it less effective

Kitchen essentials

Another preventative measure is to use any number of kitchen essentials to coat the glass.

You can use anything from a potato to an onion to a lemon, as well as white vinegar.

Simply slice up your chosen vegetable and rub it on the windscreen (or spray it if using vinegar).

This works on a similar principle to the rubbing alcohol with the starch of the potato and onion or the acidity of the lemon/vinegar serving to alter the freezing point of the water.

Rubbing on the night before will form a protective layer across the windscreen and reduce the amount of frost that forms overnight.

Can't take the heat

There is, however, one popular de-icing hack which you definitely shouldn't use, despite its prevalence on social media.

Some drivers have been advising pouring boiling water from your kettle over the windscreen to bust the ice in seconds.

But if you try this, it might not just be the ice your busting.

When glass, like most solid items, gets very cold it contracts slightly before expanding again when its warm.

If you heat it too rapidly, by hitting it with boiling water for instance, this expansion happens too fast and can lead to chips and cracks or, in worst case scenarios, the whole pane shattering.

Not only is this expensive to repair, it's also very dangerous so definitely steer clear of this one.