Over the summer months, a lot of motorists will pack their car boots and set off on a trip across Britain’s beautiful countryside, but this beautiful weather can also provide a few hidden dangers for your windscreen.

Unlike in winter, where the main culprit is storms, snow, hail and poor visibility, in summer there is a larger variety of objects and environmental factors that can lead to a call to a windscreen repair service.

Here are some of the most common and how you can avoid them.

Road Debris

Cracks in tarmac road surfaces can happen at any time of the year, particularly on busy roads that experience a lot of traffic, but they can be more common and potentially more damaging in summer.

Part of this is simply that a lot more people are travelling further distances by car, which increases the stress on the roads and the chances that one of these cars will kick up a stone that smacks against the windscreen, but another part of it is the heat itself.

Heat can have a damaging effect on many road surfaces, leading to characteristic crocodile cracking that can form potholes and increase the amount of debris on the road.

Being mindful of the cars in front and avoiding particularly poor-quality roads are the best ways to avoid this.

Thermal Shock

There are times when glass can suddenly shatter without warning in the summer, and a common cause of this is thermal shock, where a glass window experiences both extreme heat and extreme cold at the same time.

Whilst most commonly associated with pouring boiling water over an iced-over windscreen, summer weather can cause the same phenomenon if the windscreen is only partially shaded.

Outside of parking in completely shaded areas or keeping your car in the garage when it is not in use, another way to protect your windscreen is to cover it when parked or use a suitable UV-resistant film.