WET, damp and cold weather can play havoc with your car and cause a major headache from breakdowns due to minor accidents and mechanical problems.

Roadside assistance provider Green Flag cites October to February as its busiest period with calls for help to the Leeds-based company rising by at least 20 per cent compared with the rest of the year.

In fact, more than half of all calls to the company’s incident management centre are due to winter-related breakdowns. Spokesperson Nigel Charlesworth reveals the top ten causes of winter breakdowns.

“Non-starting vehicles, mainly due to problems with batteries and engine immobilisers, remains the number one cause of winter breakdowns, accounting for over half of all calls,” he said.

Water and electric seldom mix, so breakdowns involving problems with the vehicle’s electrical systems account for nearly seven per cent of all calls to Green Flag in winter.

With five per cent, punctures and other problems with tyres are the next biggest cause of winter breakdowns.