How to defrost your car quickly on a cold morning as Met Eireann predicts 0 degree temperatures

As the temperatures in Ireland begin to drop, many people want to know how to prevent frosty from gathering on car windows during the freezing early morning starts

Temperatures are due to take a dip this week, going as low as zero overnight on Thursday.

As always with low temperatures, that may mean you wake up to a frosty car and windscreen in the morning. There are a few ways to get rid of the frost fast - without damaging your car - to have you on your way with no delays.

Met Eireann predicts "lowest temperatures of 0 to 4 degrees, possibly dipping lower locally with a slight frost in sheltered spots. A few mist or fog patches forming also in a light westerly or variable breeze."

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AA has some simple steps to follow that will get you on your way in a jiffy.

As soon as you can, head out the car and check your windscreen wipers. Make sure your wipers aren't on before you switch the car on, as if they are are frozen to the glass, the wiper motor could be damaged or the rubber could tear off if they start wiping.

Next, start the engine and turn on the warm air blower to the windscreen, and switch on the rear window heater if applicable.

Then, switch on the air-con, which can help prevent the car from misting up more.

Avoid using hands to wipe the windows as you will just leave smears and potentially even scratches from jewellery.

Don't leave your car unattended while it's running, and watch to see the windscreen start to clear up.

Use a de-iceing spray or scraper while you run the engine to speed up the process even more, if you have them.

Stay with your car the whole time while the engine's running – before you know it, that frozen windscreen will start to clear up. Make sure to use this spare time to clear the ice or snow from the outside of the car.

Once the windscreen is clear, you can get on the road.

Never use hot water to clear your windscreen, in case it leads to cracks.

Glass expands quickly when hot or even warm water touches it, and will contract quickly too as it cools down in the cold air.

That flexing can make the glass crack even if you're using lukewarm water – especially if it had small chips or cracks already, warns AA.

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