A roof tends to reveal its weak points in the months when it is least convenient to mend them. Frost opens old cracks, driving rain finds a lifted tile, and a gale takes a ridge section that was already loose. The natural question is whether anything can be done before spring, and the answer is that it depends on the material, the repair and the day. Some work is barely affected by cold, such as replacing a slipped slate or renewing a lead flashing. Other work depends on dry surfaces or on mortar and sealants that need settled weather to cure, and doing it badly in January means doing it again in April. Wind and ice are a separate matter, because they decide whether anyone can work at height at all. What follows explains how we think through a winter repair in and around Bath: what proceeds, what is made safe and left, how a temporary measure is judged, and how to make the most of a dry window when one arrives.
The three things winter changes
Winter affects roof work in three separate ways, and it helps to keep them apart, because a repair can be fine on one count and impossible on another.
The first is safety. A roof slope that is wet, frosted or iced is slippery, and a strong gust can unbalance a person carrying a sheet of lead or a bundle of tiles. Work at height stops when the conditions put the roofer at risk, whatever the repair, and a polite phone call to rearrange is better than a rushed job. Short daylight hours matter too, since a repair that needs a full day in June may need two in December.
The second is the material. Slate, clay tile, stone tile and lead are laid dry, which means they are fixed with nails, clips and overlaps, not with a wet process. That makes them forgiving of cold. By contrast, anything that is glued, bedded, poured or cured needs a dry, reasonably mild surface to set properly. Cement and lime mortar, liquid-applied coatings, resin and glass-fibre laminate, and adhesives all fall in that group.
The third is the roof itself. Timber that has been soaked for weeks does not take fixings or coatings as well as dry timber, and an open roof with the covering stripped is a risk when more rain is forecast. A sensible winter plan never opens more roof than can be closed again by the end of the day.
We look at each repair against those three tests. If it passes all of them, it goes ahead. If it fails on the second, we protect the roof and wait. If it fails on the first, we rearrange for a safer day. The rest of this guide shows which repairs usually fall where.
Repairs that usually go ahead in cold or wet weather
A good deal of repair work carries on through the winter, because the materials do not mind the conditions and a leak does not get better for being left.
- Replacing slipped, cracked or missing slates and tiles. These are fixed mechanically. A slate that has slid cannot simply be nailed again, so a tingle holds it: a thin copper or lead tab fixed to the batten and bent up across the tail of the slate. Clay and concrete tiles are re-hung on clips and nails.
- Renewing lead flashings and soakers. A flashing is lead shaped over a junction, such as where a slope meets a chimney, so that water runs clear of the joint. Soakers are little lead sheets, one to each course, that slide in under the slates or tiles beside a wall or stack. Lead can be worked in the cold, and it does not rely on a cure.
- Patching a split in a lead valley or parapet gutter. A valley is the lead-lined channel where two slopes join. A parapet gutter is the leaded channel that hides behind a stone upstand at the eaves. Both can be repaired or relined in short dry spells if the area is kept covered.
- Clearing blocked gutters and outlets. Autumn leaves and moss often cause the winter leak, and the fix is a cleared outlet and a flush of water.
- Dry-fix ridge and verge repairs. A dry system uses clips and rolled seals in place of a mortar bed, so it does not depend on the weather. The relevant test standard is BS 8612:2018. Where a roof ends at a gable it forms a verge, the sloping edge that overhangs the wall, and dry-fix covers that as well.
As typical UK ranges, MyBuilder's 2026 guide to repair costs shows £100 to £300 for minor work, while storm damage is listed between £500 and £1,500. Winter does not change the nature of the job, only the scheduling. The price you sign is the fixed one that follows the survey.
None of this means working in any weather. If the forecast is for rain all day, a lead repair is planned for the dry hours, and we use the wet day for what can be done indoors or from the ground, such as photographs, measuring and ordering materials.
Repairs that are made safe and left until spring
Some repairs are better postponed, and a good winter visit recognises which. The reason is never reluctance. It is that the repair would not last.
Mortar and lime work come first. Fresh cement or lime that freezes before it has set can crumble, so repointing a chimney stack, re-bedding a ridge or renewing flaunching (the mortar crown that sets the chimney pots in place at the top of a stack) is normally held until the weather settles. On older Bath stone and lime-pointed stacks the case for waiting is stronger, since lime sets slowly and needs protecting while it does. Where a stack is leaning or a ridge is loose enough to fall, we secure it, and we make the permanent repair when conditions allow.
Membranes and coatings are the second group. Torch-on felt, liquid coatings, GRP and many sealants need a dry deck. Laid over a damp surface they can trap moisture, blister or fail to bond. A flat roof leak in January is therefore often made watertight with a temporary patch and fully renewed in drier weather. The page on temporary roof repairs looks at how far a stop-gap can be trusted.
Large-scale stripping is the third. Re-slating a whole slope or replacing a covering means opening the roof, and a few dry days are needed to close it again. Where the roof is sound enough to wait, we plan big work for a more settled spell, and the survey records the condition in the meantime.
Work in high wind is the last case. We do not lift sheets of lead, long lengths of guttering or large tiles in gusty weather, whatever the repair, because the risk falls on the person up there and on the people below.
What making safe actually involves
When a repair has to wait, the roof is made safe so that the building stays dry and nobody is endangered. This is a defined piece of work in its own right, and our guide to what a roof make-safe covers is worth reading alongside this one.
The usual measures are modest. A damaged area is covered with a tarpaulin or a membrane battened down, a loose element is tied back or removed, a split is patched, and a blocked outlet is cleared. On a snowy roof, a thaw can send meltwater under a lifted tile, so we look at the exposed edges after snow clears. A tarpaulin is the commonest temporary cover, and our page on roof tarpaulins explains why the fixing method matters more than the sheet.
A tarpaulin laid loose across a roof is a hazard. Wind gets under it, flaps it against the slates and can pull it off, taking tiles with it. Fixed properly, with battens that grip the roof structure and a lap that sheds water downhill, it protects the building for a few weeks. It does not replace the repair and should not be treated as one. We note on the quote when a temporary measure is in place and what the permanent repair will be.
Inside the building, the occupier can help. Move belongings away from the leak, protect electrics, and photograph the stain with the date. If a ceiling is bulging with water, a small hole in the lowest point, with a bucket beneath, lets it drain in a controlled way and avoids a collapse. Do this only if it is safe to stand under the area.
A make-safe visit is not a commitment to the full job. You receive a fixed price for the permanent repair, and you decide when it goes ahead.
Storm damage, insurance and the weather record
Winter storms bring the most urgent calls and the most paperwork. A storm is often defined by wind speed, and a gust of 55 mph is a common threshold. An ordinary policy may also exclude wear and tear, so rain entering through a roof that had not been kept up is a typical sticking point. Which? wrote in November 2025, quoting Financial Conduct Authority data, that a payout followed in only 32% of storm claims made during 2024. That is a reason to keep records, not a reason to expect a particular outcome. Whether a claim succeeds is for the insurer to decide, and we do not handle claims on your behalf.
What helps a claim is simple evidence. Dated photographs of the damage, a note of the weather on the day, and a written report describing the cause and the repair. Our survey report carries photographs taken on your roof, and a make-safe visit documents the state of the roof before any temporary measure is fixed. Keep receipts for any emergency work as well.
Where a falling branch or a failed aerial fixing caused the damage, the guide to tree, aerial and dish damage covers the repair options. If the damage is on a shared building, the guide to repairing a shared roof explains how instruction and cost are usually organised.
Do not climb onto a storm-damaged roof yourself, and do not stand beneath loose slates. A slipped slate can fall long after the storm has passed. If something is hanging, keep people clear of the area and call us. Leaks and storm damage are first on our list, and the first aim is to make the roof safe.
Once the storm has passed, a check from the ground with binoculars is a useful first look. Gaps in a course of tiles, a displaced ridge section, or a slate on the lawn are all worth noting.
Planning winter work and using the dry spells
The best winter repair is one that is planned around the weather, not in spite of it. A few habits make a difference.
Report a leak early. A small defect found in November is a small repair. By February the water may have soaked insulation and timber, and the job has grown. Photographs sent by WhatsApp are enough for a first conversation, and we then book a survey. The phone number is 01225 285181, and the enquiry form works as well.
Choose the repair for the season. If a flashing and a few slates will stop the leak, do those now. If the flat roof needs renewing, accept a temporary patch and book the full job for the spring. We explain the trade-off on the quote, with the temporary and the permanent work priced separately.
Be ready for the dry window. A settled spell of two or three days in winter is not rare, and a roofer with a survey completed, materials ordered and scaffold arranged can use it. Without the groundwork, the window passes. This is one reason we ask for access arrangements early, particularly on a flat or a shared building where permission has to be sought.
Think about birds. Gulls begin to take an interest in roofs as the weather warms, and a repair finished in winter, with deterrents fitted, is ready before nesting starts. Our guide to seagulls nesting on a roof explains the options, and work near an active nest is planned around the law.
Our roof repairs service covers leaks, storm damage and make-safe work, beginning with a free survey. A fixed price follows in writing, the workmanship carries our ten-year written guarantee, and waste leaves with us.