As temperatures drop after a deceptively warm summer, the first sign of trouble is often a misted windscreen. Many drivers underestimate it, scraping a tiny peephole or wiping with a sleeve before pulling away. But the law is blunt: if your view of the road is obstructed, you can be fined up to £1,000 and given three penalty points, and that can snowball into higher insurance costs and even liability if a collision occurs.

The fix is almost embarrassingly simple. Keeping a couple of microfibre cloths in the car means you can clear condensation in seconds, properly and safely. Combined with using your heater and air conditioning to demist, it turns a risky rush into a calm, legal start. For the price of a coffee, you avoid a fine, protect your licence and, more importantly, protect everyone sharing the road with you.