Start With the Gutters and Drainage

Before the first gale rattles the windows, spend a dry afternoon on the gutters. It is the simplest job on the autumn list, and the one that prevents the most expensive damage. Overflowing water finds every weakness in render, brick and mortar, then freezes and forces cracks wider. Clear leaves, moss, twigs and the odd tennis ball from the channels, then flush each downpipe with a bucket of water. If water backs up or pours over the front, the pipe is blocked further down. A plumber’s drain rod or a length of flexible wire will often shift it.

• Clear gutters by hand with a gutter scoop or gloved fingers, never a garden fork, which can puncture the metal.
• Check joints and seals. Re-seat any section that has pulled apart, and replace cracked brackets before they drop.
• Clear gullies, soakaways and French drains of silt and leaves so surface water can reach the ditch or soak pit.
• Direct downpipes away from the cottage wall. A simple extension or splash block should carry water at least a metre from the foundations.
• Empty or secure water butts. A full butt can split when the water freezes, and a loose lid becomes a missile in a gale.

If you have a shared ditch or stream at the boundary, check it now for blockages. A few barrowloads of cut branches and silt removed in October can save a flooded pantry in January.

A Careful Look at Roof, Tiles and Chimney

Stand back with binoculars on a clear morning and study the roofline. You are looking for slipped slates, cracked ridge tiles, lifted lead flashing around the chimney, and missing mortar. On a thatched roof, check that the netting is secure and that no wire has sprung. Wind gets under small defects and turns them into large ones. If you are not confident on a ladder, book a roofer now rather than after the storm. Good tradespeople are always busiest when the forecast turns ugly.

Inside the loft, look for daylight, damp patches or stained rafters. Insulate exposed pipes and the cold water tank, but leave the tank’s underside and the loft hatch unlagged so warm air can reach them. Check chimney pots are secure and fit a cowl if you have had downdraughts before. Sweep the flue before the first fire, and make sure the hearth and stove door seals are sound. Cut back any tree branch that overhangs the roof or chimney, and take down dead limbs before they come down themselves.

Securing Gates, Fences and Outbuildings

Gates take a battering in exposed countryside. Oil hinges, replace worn pins, and adjust latches so they shut with a firm click rather than a rattle. A field gate that can swing freely in a gale will soon break its posts or injure livestock. Add a drop bolt or a simple storm bar where a gate faces the prevailing wind. Walk the fence line and re-tension stock wire, replace broken posts, and staple back loose netting. Check hedges for dead elm or brittle ash that could crash onto a shed or animal shelter.

Outbuildings need a once-over too. Refix shed felt, tighten screws on corrugated sheets, and secure doors and shutters with heavy bolts. Move wheelbarrows, feed bins, plant pots, bins and tarpaulins into the barn or tie them down. Anything light enough to lift is heavy enough to break a window. Put machinery under cover, and check that livestock shelters have dry bedding, a good roof and a way to be closed off from driving rain. A few hours with a hammer and a coil of galvanised nails is cheap insurance.

Store Fuel, Water and Light Before the Frost

Assume the power will go out at least once. Store logs, kindling, coal and smokeless fuel off the ground and under cover, with the driest wood closest to the door. Check gas bottles are full and upright, and keep paraffin or lamp oil in a cool, dark place away from the house. If you have an oil tank, check the level, secure the cap and make sure the bund is clear. Test the generator, use fresh fuel, and never run it indoors or in a closed shed.

• Fill a storm box with torches, head torches, spare batteries, candles, matches and a wind-up radio.
• Charge power banks and keep a landline phone if you have one; cordless phones die when the electricity does.
• Lag outside pipes and taps, isolate them if you can, and know where the stopcock is.
• Fill clean containers with drinking water, and keep a few litres for pets and livestock.
• Note down the numbers for your electrician, tree surgeon, vet and fuel supplier, and keep them on paper as well as on your phone.

If you draw water from a well or borehole, protect the pump and pipework with insulation and a sturdy cover. A frozen pump is a miserable job in the dark.

Protecting the Kitchen Garden and Greenhouse

The kitchen garden needs its own winter routine. Clear spent crops, add them to the compost, and mulch bare beds with leaf mould or well-rotted manure. Earth up leeks and brassicas, and firm in any plants lifted by frost. Secure fruit cages and netting so they do not tear loose in the wind. Check tree ties and stakes, but loosen any that are rubbing. Move terracotta pots under cover, because wet clay cracks when it freezes.

In the greenhouse, replace broken panes, fit new glazing clips, and check vents and doors latch tightly. Bubble wrap the inside for insulation, but leave a little ventilation on mild days. If you use a heater, test it before the first hard frost. Protect salad leaves and herbs with fleece or cloches, and lift dahlias and other tender tubers to store in a frost-free shed. Harvest and store apples, pears, carrots and beetroot in sand or paper, and dry onions and herbs for the kitchen. A tidy plot in November is a productive plot in March.

Country Crafts and Indoor Jobs for Stormy Days

When the gales keep you indoors, turn to the crafts that make a smallholding feel self-reliant. Make firelighters from pine cones, sawdust and old candle stubs. Dry herbs for teas and salves, and bundle kindling into neat faggots. Mend willow baskets, rush seats and broken tool handles. Sharpen secateurs and shears, oil wooden handles, and stitch torn gloves and waxed jackets. Use the quiet hours to make chutney, jam or cider from the last of the fruit, and to plan next year’s crop rotation.

These small tasks are not just busywork. They keep tools ready, store food, and turn a wild day into something useful. By the time the first storm arrives, the cottage is tightened, the fuel is stacked, the animals are settled and the garden is tucked in. Then you can put the kettle on, listen to the wind, and know that the worst of it will find very little to damage.