James Madden, of Exacta Weather, correctly predicted the harsh conditions experienced over the last two years and now believes the coming winter will 'break all records'. 

He warned: 'The UK is to brace itself for well below average temperatures and widespread heavy snowfall throughout winter 2011/2012, which will result in the fourth bad winter in succession for the UK, and will prove to be the worst of them all.

'I fully expect records to be broken, with the Highlands of Scotland being once again particularly hard hit.  It is vital to start preparing now.'

ATS Euromaster fitted tens of thousands of cold weather tyres last winter and is now preparing for its second winter of fitting the tyres, which can completely transform a car or van's handling when driving on snow, slush or ice – as well as on dry roads when the temperature drops below 7°C.

This year the company has ordered significantly more winter stock, but warns that the massive demand from mainland Europe – where fitment of cold weather tyres is a legal requirement in many countries – means UK supplies may still run short.

As a result, fleets are being warned to invest in cold weather tyres now or face the chances that fast-fit firms such as ATS Euromaster will have run out of stock if they leave it too late.

Chris Hufflett, group operations director at ATS Euromaster, said: 'European demand is so strong that there simply aren't going to be enough cold weather tyres in the UK to go around so it'll be first-come first served. Any organisations which wait until the snow begins to fall could be disappointed.'

Last winter ATS Euromaster and its parent company, Euromaster Group, sold over 1.5 million cold weather tyres across Europe.