Householders are being urged to avoid frozen pipes this winter by thinking ahead.

Scottish Water has launched its winter campaign with a three point plan to keep pipes safe.

The advice is ‘heat, insulate and protect’ to keep the water running smoothly before any cold spells.

The advice is for everyone in their own home a holiday home or business premises to avoid frozen and burst pipes causing damage and misery.

Joanna Peebles, Scottish Water’s regional community team manager, said: “Anyone who has returned to their house or work to find everything ankle deep in freezing water with carpets, furniture and equipment all ruined, will know only too well of the misery a burst pipe in winter can cause.

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“But by taking action to heat, insulate and protect properties, customers can avoid the considerable headache and heartache caused by burst pipes. We want to work with our customers to ensure we are all prepared for whatever winter weather we get.

The campaign is backed by STV weatherman Sean Batty who said while recent winters have been milder people should be prepared for the possibility of bad weather.

He said: “The winters of 2009-10 and 2010-11 were characterised by cold, snowy conditions, which brought numerous problems across the country.

“Since then, we have avoided really cold conditions but instead we’ve had milder and stormier weather which, of course, brings its own issues."

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“The Met Office and Met Eirann also started naming our storms to raise more public awareness and to make people more prepared for bad weather.

“Last year, we had 11 named storms from Abigail to Katie. This storm season, we will start with Storm Angus but I hope we’re not on Holly by Christmas.