Winter car kit checklist (UK): what to keep in your car, including food

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix and the maker of Phoenix Bars. Updated 26 October 2026 and checked against the Highway Code, the government's Be Ready advice and the Met Office winter car kit guidance.

A winter car kit is a small set of supplies you keep in the car from October to March in case you break down or get stuck in snow, ice or a long motorway closure. A good UK winter car kit holds an ice scraper and de-icer, a torch with spare batteries, warm clothes, boots and a blanket, a high-visibility jacket, a first aid kit, jump leads, a shovel, an in-car phone charger and power bank, bottled water, and food that needs no cooking and copes with freezing temperatures. Keep the food, water and a blanket somewhere you can reach from your seat, not only in the boot.

This is official advice, not just prepper caution. Rule 228 of the Highway Code lists an emergency kit for icy and snowy weather and specifically includes a warm drink and emergency food, in case you get stuck or your vehicle breaks down. The government's Be Ready advice, launched on 22 October 2026, also suggests packing a few essentials in your car boot in case you get stuck in wintry weather, with food and drink among them.

Getting stuck happens more often than most drivers expect. On 28 February 2018, around 1,000 vehicles came to a standstill in an eight-mile tailback on the M80 between Glasgow and Stirling, and some drivers were stuck for up to 13 hours. The next evening, drivers on the M62 above Rochdale spent the night in their cars, some for up to 18 hours, while local residents walked up to the motorway with hot drinks, food and blankets. In December 2022, snow left drivers on the M25 in Essex stuck overnight for around 12 hours. A few minutes spent packing water, food and a warm layer makes a night like that far easier to get through.

Why I wrote this guide. Phoenix Bars began as my university project to design a better emergency ration, so I think about food in exactly the conditions a car creates: frosty nights, warm summer afternoons, months of being forgotten, and then one moment when it has to be easy to eat. Customers have eaten Phoenix Bars at -45°C and through the heat of the Marathon des Sables. This guide covers the whole winter car kit, with extra detail on the part most checklists skip: what to eat and drink while you wait.

Winter car emergency kit checklist (UK)

This list combines the Highway Code, Be Ready, the Met Office winter car kit and Traffic Scotland. Pack it at the start of winter and leave it in the car until spring.

Clearing the car and seeing the road

• An ice scraper and de-icer. You must be able to see out of every window before you drive, and your lights and number plates must be clean.
• Screenwash rated for winter, plus a spare bottle on long trips.
• Sunglasses, because low winter sun causes real glare.

Light and being seen

• A torch with spare batteries, or a wind-up torch. A phone light is not enough on a dark country road, and you need the phone's battery for calls.
• A high-visibility jacket or vest for every adult who might need to get out of the car.
• A warning triangle, placed at least 45 metres behind the car on ordinary roads. Never use one on a motorway.

Staying warm

• A big coat, a hat, gloves and a spare jumper for each person, even if you drive in lighter clothes.
• Boots with a good grip, or slip-on ice grips, in case you need to walk on snow or ice.
• A blanket or sleeping bag, plus a foil emergency blanket, which weighs almost nothing.

Getting moving again

• A shovel. A folding snow shovel fits in most boots.
• Jump leads, because flat batteries are far more common in cold weather.
• A couple of old carpet offcuts or a bag of cat litter to put under the wheels for grip.
• An empty fuel can, so you can walk to a petrol station if you run out.

Calling for help

• An in-car phone charger and a charged power bank.
• Your breakdown provider's number and a few emergency contacts written on paper, in case your phone dies.
• A paper road atlas for diversions when the sat nav loses signal.

Health

• A first aid kit.
• Any essential medication you would need if you were stuck overnight, kept in the cabin rather than the boot.

Food and drink

• Bottled water: at least 1 litre per person.
• About a day of no-cook food per person that copes with freezing temperatures (see below).
• A flask of hot drink whenever you set off in snow or ice, as the Highway Code suggests.

What food to keep in your car for emergencies

Car food has a harder job than cupboard food. It has to sit untouched for months, survive frost on winter nights and heat on summer afternoons, need no cooking, opener or water, and still be easy to eat in a cramped driver's seat when you are cold and tired. Those conditions rule out most of what is in a kitchen cupboard.

The best emergency food for a car ticks six boxes:

• It needs no cooking, heating or tin opener.
• It stays edible below freezing. Food with plenty of water in it, such as fruit, sandwiches, yoghurt and drinks, freezes solid in a cold car.
• It does not melt if you forget to take it out in summer.
• It carries plenty of calories for its size, so a day of food fits in a seat-back pocket. Our guide to calorie-dense foods ranks the best of them.
• It keeps for months without a fridge.
• It is not too salty, because water may be limited.

Good choices

• Dense bars. Phoenix Bars carry up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar, need no cooking or water, will not freeze or melt, and keep for up to two years (12 months for Cherry Bakewell). Two of them are about half a day of calories in one pocket.
• Flapjack. Dense, filling and happy in the cold, at about 4.3 calories per gram.
• Nuts. Unsalted or lightly salted mixed nuts or peanuts give about 600 calories per 100g and stay edible in a hard frost.
• Oatcakes or crackers in a sealed pack, for something plain and filling.
• Jelly sweets or boiled sweets for a quick lift and a bit of morale. Jelly sweets get chewier in the cold but stay edible.
• Emergency ration bars. Lifeboat-style rations keep for 5 years or more and are made to be left alone until they are needed. Our guide to emergency rations in the UK compares the main ones.

What to leave out

• Tins. They are heavy for their calories, need an opener, and tins with lots of liquid can freeze. Throw away any tin that bulges, leaks or has split seams.
• Cans and cartons of drink. Fizzy drinks and cartons of juice or milk can freeze and split in a cold car.
• Fresh food. Sandwiches, fruit and yoghurt freeze in winter and go off in summer.
• Chocolate left in all year. It is fine through the winter but melts in a warm car, so take it out in spring.
• Very salty snacks, which make you thirstier when water is short.

Does food freeze in a car in winter?

On a cold night a parked car cools to roughly the same temperature as the air outside. Anything that is mostly water, including bottled water, juice, fruit and sandwiches, will freeze once that drops below 0°C. Dense, low-moisture food such as nuts, flapjack and bars gets firmer but stays edible, which is why it makes the best car food.

How much food and water to keep in the car

Plan for one long wait, such as a night on a closed motorway, rather than for days. An adult needs around 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day, based on the NHS guide, so aim for about 2,000 calories of food and at least 1 litre of water per adult. That comfortably covers a long night with some to spare.

One way to build it for one adult, in about 440g:

• Two Phoenix Bars, 240g: up to 1,114 calories.
• A 100g bag of mixed nuts: about 600 calories.
• A 100g bag of jelly sweets: about 350 calories.

That comes to about 2,000 calories in a bag that fits in a seat-back pocket. Add two 500ml bottles of water per person. For a family, pack one set per adult and smaller amounts of the snacks your children already eat, plus extra water if anyone in the car is very young, older or unwell.

Will bottled water freeze in the car?

It can. In a hard frost, water left in the boot overnight can freeze solid, and a full bottle can split. Leave a little space at the top of each bottle, keep the bottles in the cabin wrapped in a blanket or coat on very cold nights, and take a flask of hot drink whenever you set off in snow.

Keep food and warmth where you can reach them

Most kit lists say to keep everything in the boot, but think about the moment you need it. If you are stuck in a queue of traffic, in the dark, in falling snow, getting out to open the boot can be cold, awkward and unsafe. From November to March, keep a small bag behind the passenger seat or in a door pocket with:

• Water and the food for everyone in the car.
• A torch.
• A blanket or foil blanket.
• A phone charger and power bank.
• Hats and gloves.

The shovel, jump leads, warning triangle and fuel can stay in the boot.

What to do if you get stuck in snow in your car

If you are stuck, the aim is to stay warm, stay visible and get help without putting yourself at more risk.

• Call for help. Call your breakdown provider, or 999 if anyone is injured or in danger. On a motorway with no signal, use the nearest emergency phone. Tell someone where you are.
• Stay with the car. It is your shelter, and a car is far easier for rescuers to find than a person on foot. Green Flag advises staying in the car unless help is visible within about 100 metres.
• Do not spin the wheels. Revving digs you in deeper. Clear snow from around the driven wheels, put carpet or cat litter under them, and ease forward gently in a higher gear. Do not wear yourself out digging or pushing.
• Only run the engine if the exhaust is clear. Snow blocking the exhaust pipe can push carbon monoxide into the car, and you cannot smell it. Clear the exhaust before you start the engine, check it again if snow keeps falling or drifting, open a window slightly on the side away from the wind, and run the engine and heater in short bursts rather than all the time. If you cannot keep the exhaust clear, do not run the engine.
• In an electric car there is no exhaust, but heating the cabin uses battery. Heated seats, blankets and warm layers make your charge last longer.
• Put layers on before you get cold. Hat, gloves, coat and blanket first. It is much easier to stay warm than to warm up again.
• Eat and drink little and often. Your body works harder to keep warm in the cold, so a bar, a handful of nuts and a hot drink from the flask every couple of hours make a long wait easier.
• Stay visible. Use your hazard lights if the car is blocking traffic, and wear your high-visibility jacket if you have to get out.

Before you set off in snow or ice

The Highway Code says not to drive in icy or snowy conditions unless your journey is essential. If it is:

• Check the Met Office weather warnings and the traffic news for your route.
• Clear all snow and ice from every window, the lights, the number plates and the roof.
• Leave with more fuel or charge than you think you need, so you can run the heater if you are held up.
• Take a flask of hot drink and check your food and water are in the car.
• Tell someone your route and when you expect to arrive.
• Run the POWDERY checks: petrol, oil, water (coolant and screenwash), damage, electrics, rubber (your tyres) and yourself.

Do ready-made winter car kits include food?

Usually not. Ready-made winter car kits from motoring brands cost roughly £10 to £35 and focus on clearing snow and being seen. The AA winter car kits listed on Google Shopping in October 2026, for example, contain a folding shovel, a high-visibility vest, a torch and a foil blanket, with snow grips, rain ponchos and jump leads in the larger version, but no food or water. They are a good start: add warm clothes, a proper blanket, water and a day of food and you have a complete kit.

Car kit, grab bag or home kit?

• Car kit: lives in the car all winter, for breakdowns and getting stuck. This page.
• Grab bag: a light bag by the door for leaving home quickly. See our emergency grab bag list.
• Home emergency kit: 3 days of supplies for staying put through a power cut or storm. See our home emergency kit checklist and our 3-day emergency food supply list.

If you are building all three, our guide to prepping in the UK shows how they fit together, and our guide to emergency water storage covers how much water to keep at home.

Winter car kits for children, older passengers and pets

• Children: snacks they already like, a spare hat and gloves, and something to do that does not need a charged phone.
• Babies: ready-to-feed formula, nappies, wipes and a spare set of clothes. Be Ready recommends ready-to-feed formula because you may not be able to boil water.
• Older passengers or anyone with a small appetite: an extra blanket and hat, any regular medication, and small amounts of soft, calorie-dense food they can manage a little at a time. A dense bar can be broken into small pieces. Our guide to high-calorie foods for older adults has more ideas.
• Dogs: water, a bowl, some food, a lead and an old towel or blanket.

How often to check your car kit

Pack it when the clocks go back at the end of October and check it again in early spring, when you can take out the winter extras. Each time:

• Check the dates on food and water, and eat anything close to its date on a walk or a long drive.
• Charge the power bank and test the torch.
• Swap in clothes that still fit, especially for children.
• Top up the screenwash and check the de-icer has not run out.

Cars swing from frosty nights to warm afternoons, so check car food every few months and replace it well before its date. Food that keeps for a year or two, such as sealed nuts and dense bars, makes this easy.

Common questions about winter car kits

What should I keep in my car in winter in the UK?

An ice scraper and de-icer, a torch, warm clothes, boots and a blanket, a high-visibility jacket, a first aid kit, jump leads, a shovel, a phone charger and power bank, at least 1 litre of water per person and about a day of no-cook food per person.

What is the best emergency food to keep in a car?

Food that needs no cooking, will not freeze or melt, keeps for months and packs plenty of calories into a small space: dense high calorie bars, flapjack, nuts and emergency ration bars. Leave out tins, fresh food and drinks cartons.

Will food freeze in my car overnight?

Food with a lot of water in it will, including water, juice, fruit and sandwiches, once the temperature drops below 0°C. Nuts, flapjack, sweets and dense bars get firmer but stay edible.

How long could I be stuck in my car in snow?

Most hold-ups last a few hours, but in severe snow drivers have been stuck for 12 to 18 hours, as on the M80 and M62 in 2018 and the M25 in 2022. Pack for one long night.

Is a winter car kit a legal requirement in the UK?

No. You must be able to see out of every window and keep your lights and number plates clean, but carrying a kit is not a legal requirement in the UK. Some European countries do require items such as a warning triangle or a high-visibility vest, so check before you drive abroad.

Should I keep water in my car in winter?

Yes, at least 1 litre per person. Leave a little space in each bottle so it does not split if it freezes, and keep it in the cabin on very cold nights.

Is it safe to sleep in the car with the engine running?

No. Snow can build up around the exhaust while you sleep and let carbon monoxide into the car. If you need the engine for heat, run it in short bursts while you are awake, check the exhaust is clear each time, and rely on blankets and warm layers in between.

Sources: The Highway Code, rules 228 to 231; GOV.UK Be Ready, be ready for emergencies; Met Office, prepare a winter kit for your car; RAC, winter breakdown kit checklist; Traffic Scotland, vehicle emergency kit; Green Flag, what to do if you get stuck in a blizzard; NHS, understanding calories; Sunday Post (PA), M80 drivers stranded, March 2018; Huddersfield Examiner, M62 drivers stranded, March 2018; Gazette, M25 drivers stuck overnight, December 2022; AA winter car kit listings on Google Shopping, checked October 2026.