Every winter season, it’s the same, old, seemingly vague, rule: changing winter tyres is mandatory in Luxembourg. But when is that exactly?
There is actually no specific date and here in the Grand-Duchy it all depends on the weather. The Luxembourgish highway code offers some more precision, specifically the Grand Ducal regulation of 10 September 2012.
According to the law, vehicles must be equipped with winter tyres ‘in the event of black ice, packed snow, slush or patches of ice or frost’.
Generally, the Luxembourgish police recommends switching to winter tyres as soon as temperatures fall below 7°C. But for those who are looking for an even easier rule of thumb, the police recommends fitting your car with tyres from October onwards and switching back to summer tyres around the Easter holidays.
Of course. these are just recommendations. In terms of binding law, only the actual Grand Ducal regulation applies. However, if your car is not equipped with the right tyres when the time comes, the police will not hesitate to penalise you with a €74 fine and your vehicle will be seized.
This applies regardless of the country in which your car is registered. Something readers should also be aware of is that mixing summer and winter tyres is prohibited in Luxembourg. So you won’t get away with buying two tyres instead of four.
Finally, if you are equipped with all-season tyres, we can confirm that you will not need to make any changes before winter. All-season tyres are permitted at any time of the year, but make sure that your tyres have the icon of a three-peaked mountain with a snowflake.
