Winter home maintenance checklist

The NHS advises heating your home to a temperature that is comfortable for you and, if you can, at least 18°C in the rooms you regularly use, such as the living room and bedroom.

The NHS advises contacting a Gas Safe registered engineer to make sure heating and cooking appliances are working properly, and only a registered engineer may work on them.

Blocking a radiator wastes the heat you are paying for, and drying washing on it puts that water straight into the room's air.

UK guidance describes condensation damp as indoor moisture condensing on colder parts of the building, and says inadequate ventilation is what traps it there.

UK Health Security Agency guidance says that simply removing surface mould will not stop the damp and mould coming back, and that damp and mould can cause serious illness.

Pipes in unheated lofts, garages and outbuildings freeze first, and a burst there runs for hours before anyone notices.

GOV.UK's flood advice is to know where the water stop tap, the gas shut-off valve next to the meter and the mains cut-off on the fuse board are.

The Met Office advises securing bins, plant pots and garden furniture, pegging or upturning trampolines and locking shed doors before high winds.

Finding a slipped tile between storms is the difference between a repair and a wet ceiling.

Rain is the only way to see which joint is blocked or leaking, and standing water against a wall shows up indoors as damp.

GOV.UK offers flood warnings by text, phone or email and a five-day flood forecast, and advises keeping your flood plan somewhere safe with essential items.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service advises testing alarms weekly with the test button, replacing batteries yearly and replacing each alarm every 10 years.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says a wood-burning chimney should be swept quarterly while it is in use.

Winter storms bring power cuts, and the NHS notes that older people, young children, pregnant women and people with long-term conditions are most at risk from the cold.