But the comments here on winter tyres seem to suggest that they are only
necessary for snow. Normal tyres are not suited to cold weather. Below about
7C the tyre becomes somewhat harder and no longer provides as good a
traction as it does in warmer conditions. Winter tyres are designed with a
"softer" mixture and cope much better in the cold, they are designed to cope
better with damp, wet roads, and reduce the risk of aquaplaning in heavy
rain. It's not just snow, you know.

The problem is worse with the higher speed rating tyres that you get
these days: even quite ordinary cars have V or W rated tyres that don't
perform as well in cold weather.

The problem her in the UK is that the winter can be quite mild, that
doesn't suit the winter tyres that well either.