With the bad weather hitting most of the UK this week, we as drivers must take responsibility for our tyres. It is important that we not only heck if they are legal but have plenty of tread left. The legal limit for tyres is 1.6 mm of tread depth but most garages recommend you change them at about 2.8-2.5mm as after this it starts to affect stopping distances. In the snow, ice or rain stopping distances are longer so with bad tyres you may struggle to stop on time. New tyres come with about 8mm of tread on them so should last a good while (depending on how many miles you do).
The other thing to check for is damage to the tyre. It may be that you have plenty of tread but if you have a puncture or bulge then you need to get it repaired or replaced as soon as possible.
The other thing to look out for on tyres is perishing. If you do very few miles a year then your tyres may not wear down enough tread to be changed for years. But overtime the rubber will start to perish and split / crack. This can cause blow outs and it is advisable to replace any tyres with this type of damage.