When are Christmas bin collections and what to do if your bin freezes?

Snow covered brown trash bin lid in winter. Bin has air vent at side. (Reimphoto via Getty Images)

With the new year approaching, forecasters are predicting possible "wintry outbreaks" with snow and ice in some regions due to a potential Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) event.

The Met Office has confirmed there could potentially be a SSW event in the first week of January, but we would not see the effects until two weeks later. When a SSW occurs, it can cause the jet stream to meander, resulting in a high-pressure system over northern Europe.

This can prevent the mild, wet and windy Atlantic low-pressure systems from reaching the UK, leading to cold and dry weather in the region and wet and windy conditions in southern Europe. However, the effects of SSW on the UK's weather can be minimal and not necessarily result in cold weather.

The Met Office adds: "Some colder weather is likely to develop in the north briefly on Tuesday and more notably later in the week, with a risk of some wintry outbreaks developing here." By the Christmas period, the forecaster says there's a chance of a "colder, showery interlude with northerly winds potentially bringing some snowfall" to the North East and North West.

Cold weather in December shouldn't come as a shock, but there are some downsides to chilly and frosty conditions that are easy to overlook. Already this year there have been multiple cases of people being told their bins couldn't be collected because their bin lids had been frozen shut overnight.

A bemused pensioner from Lancashire said he felt like he was in a "Monty Python sketch" as he argued with his council. If you'd like to avoid getting into a similar confrontation, Yahoo News has you covered. Here are some tips to ensure your bin doesn't freeze over this winter.

Why councils might not collect your rubbish in icy conditions

As East Hampshire District Council advises: "If your bin cannot be opened, it cannot be emptied". This may sound obvious, but it can still be easy to overlook, so be sure to regularly check your bin hasn't frozen over.

The authority also points out that frozen rubbish can become stuck to the inside of a bin, adding: "Our staff will shake the bins several times to release the contents, but some waste may remain stuck in extreme conditions."

For those of you shaking your heads, asking why the binmen can't simply force the lid open, West Lancashire Borough Council says: "Our collection crews will try their best to empty the contents of your bins where possible but only if this does not result in any damage to the bin."

Watford Borough Council adds that its collectors will do what they can when items are frozen, but that they "will not have time to return to attempt to empty them again". This means you may have to wait until the next collection for your rubbish to be taken away.

Tamworth Borough Council once insisted freezing temperatures meant uncollected rubbish was not a health hazard, as organisms were unlikely to be able to breed in the cold, according to WheelieBins.co.uk – a website dedicated to all things wheelie bin.

Tips to stop your rubbish bin becoming frozen

Some simple steps you can take to avoid missing a week of collections include keeping bins in a sheltered area overnight, says West Lancashire Borough Council. This could include a shed, garage or against a wall.

The council also suggests putting your bin in the sun during the day and to wrap up any food waste before disposing of it. It urges people to avoid using hot water to dethaw any frozen bin lids.

Similar advice applies to car windows: the water could make the problem worse if it refreezes. Scientists have suggested hot water can actually freeze faster than lukewarm water.

East Hampshire District Council advises people to check on their bin lids regularly to prevent them freezing over in the first place. Ensure they are free of any snow or ice and that they can be opened easily.

The council also suggests to "hold back any glass bottles and jars until conditions improve", adding that this will "help to reduce the risk of bottle banks overflowing, if we are unable to empty them due to the conditions".

You should also keep your bin or caddy lids closed to keep the contents inside warmer. Teignbridge District Council advises.

Woman putting garden clippings into a large plastic garbage bin. Within the district, the council provide different bins for separate categories of waste recycling. — Special advice has also been issued for garden waste. (Getty Images) (lucentius via Getty Images)

What about garden waste?

"Try to protect open containers such a garden waste bags from filling with snow. If containers have snow and ice in them, we may not be able to empty them," East Hampshire Council says.

Teignbridge District Council urges people not to compress garden waste in their bins, because this could increase the likelihood of it freezing together.

Garden waste is more likely to freeze than refuse and recycling, as the contents tend to be wetter, West Lancashire Borough Council warns.

It advises people to use a spade to loosen any garden waste on the morning of collection, not to overfill the bin and to consider leaving it in a warmer place, or somewhere with direct sunlight.