By Liz Phillips

Icy winds and snow are on their way, say weather forecasters. Last winter the cold snap caused more than seven million homes to have problems with heating and burst pipes.

But it's not too late to make sure your home is ready for the big chill. Here are some of the top tips from insurers, such as Santander and Allianz, to help you make sure your home is wrapped up warm and safe before the snow and ice arrives.

• Check out your stop cock - don't just find where it's hidden but make sure you can turn it too.
• Help prevent freezing and burst pipes by keeping your central heating on when you're out. It's enough just to have it on the minimum.
• Open the loft hatch door so that warmer air can circulate up there where water tanks and pipes are.
• Insulate exposed pipes in the attic and wrap tanks with good quality lagging.
• Keep a torch handy and stock up on candles in case your power is cut off.
• Find out where to turn your mains electricity supply off in case your pipes burst.
• Put your insurer's emergency number in your mobile and have a hard copy handy in case your mobile isn't working or you can't find it.
• If your water pipes do burst open all the cold water taps and flush the toilets to get rid of the water as quickly as possible and reduce pressure on the system.
• Use towels to block off water running under doors and out of rooms and use buckets to catch drips.
• If you're super organised you can put your insurance documents, pictures of valuables and recent big ticket receipts together as evidence for any claim you may need to make.