Drivers are urged to follow a simple tip to open frozen car doors in seconds as a bout of cold weather is forecast.

Multiple severe weather warnings for snow and ice have been issued across the UK this week, with the Met Office warning of a ‘multi-hazard’ event on Thursday into Friday. The weather alerts come as cold Arctic air remains in place across the country, sending temperatures plummeting to a bitter -12C in some parts on Monday evening.

Several amber warnings for snow are in place for parts of Scotland until 7pm on Tuesday, while numerous yellow warnings for snow and ice cover the whole of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England until Friday. The Met Office has warned that a deep area of low pressure threatens to bring further snow, strong winds and heavy rain to the southern parts of the UK from Thursday night, with up to 10cm of snowfall possible.

With icy conditions and freezing temperatures expected to last throughout the week, drivers who need to get out and about are being urged to follow a simple tip if they find the bitter conditions have frozen their car door shut.

Rather than forcibly tugging on the door handle, which risks breaking it as they’re made of plastic, experts at Car Questions say you can prise the door open in mere seconds simply by distributing the force to another part of the door.

To open it, the experts say you should place one hand on the door handle and another hand on the underside of the door, as this part is much stronger. If you’re trying to open the back door, place one hand on the door handle and the other on the side of the door by the back wheel.

Then simply give the door a good pull, placing the force on the bottom part of the door rather than the handle, and it should easily come open.

Explaining the tip in a YouTube video, experts at Car Questions said: “Pulling like crazy on this door handle, you’re going to break it, it’s plastic. It’s going to cost you hundreds of dollars, don’t make this mistake.

“So, what you can do is if you’re sure it’s unlocked, try to get an edge, something like this, and then pull on this. This is strong and you can get your door open.

“For the front passenger door, you can maybe pull underneath it. You get down here and pull. Don’t pull on that [door handle]. And that little tip should save you hundreds of dollars. It’s amazing how many door handles are broken in the winter time.”