Nearly three quarters of drivers across the UK are potentially unprepared for any heavy rainfall this winter and at an increased risk of being involved in an accident according to a new survey carried out by tyre safety campaign group TyreSafe.

Just 27 per cent of drivers claimed that they had checked their tyre tread depth in the last month, the maximum period recommended between checks, and a staggering one in five admitted that they had never checked them.

Current law requires car tyres to have a minimum of 1.6mm of tread depth yet more than a quarter of those questioned thought the legal limit was less than this.

Most drivers (80 per cent) were aware of the phenomenon of aquaplaning, a dangerous situation caused by lack of tread depth on wet roads, where the car’s tyres lose complete contact with the road surface, leaving the driver without any control. However, more than half of drivers stated that they would react in a manner that would either make matters worse or have no effect on an aquaplaning car, such as pressing the brake to slow down.