Winter Rules for Trucks 2026-2027: Tyres, Chains and Holiday Bans

The short version

• Lithuania: no summer tyres on any motor vehicle or trailer, trucks included, from 10 November to 31 March.
• Austria and Sweden fix the dates whatever the weather: 1 November to 15 April in Austria, with chains on board; 10 November to 10 April in Sweden, with 5 mm of tread on every truck tyre.
• Germany and Czechia require winter tyres when the road is wintry: the alpine symbol on drive and front steering axles in Germany, 6 mm on the drive axles in Czechia.
• Latvia and Estonia apply their winter tyre rules only to vehicles up to 3.5 t. Poland has no winter tyre law.
• France: in signed mountain areas, a truck with a trailer must carry chains or snow socks, whatever its tyres.
• Christmas: Germany stops trucks over 7.5 t from 25 to 27 December. Austria, Czechia, Poland, France and Italy have holiday bans too.

Rules for heavy trucks are not the same as rules for cars, and a truck that is legal in Riga can be fined in Graz. Here is what applies this winter.

Winter tyres: the comparison

"3PMSF" is the three-peak mountain with a snowflake, also called the alpine symbol. "M+S" means mud and snow and on its own says nothing about snow performance. "POR" marks professional off-road tyres.

The Baltic states and Poland

Lithuania forbids the use of motor vehicles and trailers on summer tyres from 10 November to 31 March (point 230 of the road traffic rules), with no weight limit; winter, all-season and studded tyres are allowed. The 3 mm winter minimum is set for cars. Unsuitable tyres cost the driver EUR 50 to 100, and the vehicle's technical inspection is cancelled.

Latvia requires winter tyres from 1 December to 1 March on vehicles with a gross weight up to 3.5 t. Since 1 October 2024 they must carry the mountain and snowflake symbol, and the tread must be at least 4 mm. The fine is EUR 30. Heavier trucks are outside this rule.

Estonia has the same dates, 1 December to 1 March. The Transport Administration names the vehicles that must use winter tyres: cars (M1), vans up to 3.5 t (N1) and trailers from 0.75 to 3.5 t (O2). Since 1 December 2022 studless winter tyres must carry the 3PMSF symbol.

Poland has no law that obliges drivers to use winter, summer or all-season tyres. From a C-18 sign to the C-19 sign that ends it, chains are mandatory on at least two drive wheels, and chains are forbidden on roads not covered with snow.

On the Via Baltica, the strictest rule for a heavy truck is the Lithuanian one.

Germany and Czechia: the road decides

Germany has no winter tyre dates. When there is black ice, packed snow, slush, ice or frost on the road, a truck may only be driven if at least the wheels of its permanently driven axles and its front steering axles have tyres for winter conditions. The law defines those as tyres with the alpine symbol, so M+S alone no longer counts.

Czechia combines dates and conditions. From 1 November to 31 March, when there is a continuous layer of snow, ice or frost on the road, or when it can be expected during the trip, a vehicle over 3.5 t must have winter tyres on all wheels of its permanently driven axles, with at least 6 mm of tread.

Austria: fixed dates and chains on board

From 1 November to 15 April, trucks over 3.5 t and tractor units may only be used with winter tyres on at least one drive axle. This applies whether or not there is snow. Austria accepts M+S as well as the alpine symbol, but the tread must be at least 5 mm on radial tyres and 6 mm on cross-ply tyres. Mixed tyres are allowed on vehicles over 3.5 t, so summer tyres on the steer axle are legal.

In the same period the driver must carry snow chains for at least two drive wheels. Chains have to be fitted where the "snow chains required" sign is posted. Both the driver and the vehicle's keeper are responsible for the equipment.

France: mountain areas

From 1 November to 31 March, prefects list the mountain communes where winter equipment is required, and signs mark the zones. For heavy trucks the rule depends on the trailer:

• Truck without a trailer (N2, N3): either chains or snow socks for at least two drive wheels, or 3PMSF tyres on at least two steered wheels and at least two drive wheels.
• Truck with a trailer or semi-trailer: only chains or snow socks for at least two drive wheels count. Winter tyres alone are not enough.

Since 5 November 2025, POR tyres count as fixed anti-skid equipment, and vehicles fitted with them are exempt from these obligations.

Sweden and Finland

Sweden: from 10 November to 10 April, heavy trucks, heavy buses and their trailers must have winter tyres or equivalent equipment, whether or not the road is wintry. Tyres on drive and front axles must carry the 3PMSF symbol or POR, or be studded. Other axles and trailers over 3.5 t may use M+S tyres. Every tyre on the truck needs at least 5 mm of tread; the trailer needs at least 1.6 mm.

Finland: from November to March, when the weather or road requires it, trucks must have winter tyres with at least 5 mm of tread on their drive axles (steering drive axles are excepted). Other axles of the truck and trailer need at least 3 mm but do not have to be winter tyres.

Snow chains: when to carry, when to fit

• Carry: in Austria from 1 November to 15 April, and in the signed French mountain zones if you pull a trailer.
• Fit: where a sign orders it (C-18 in Poland, "snow chains required" in Austria), on at least two drive wheels.

Chains only help if they fit the drive tyres and the driver has fitted them before. A dark pass with a queue behind is the worst place to learn.

Snow and ice on the roof

In Austria the driver must clear the windows well enough to see properly (a small patch, or the windscreen alone, is not enough) and keep the number plates of the truck and the trailer free of snow and ice. The Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) also advises clearing snow and ice off the roof of the vehicle and the trailer before driving.

A plate of ice off a trailer roof can smash the windscreen behind you, so clear the roof at the loading point, from a platform or with a roof rake.

Christmas and New Year 2026-2027: when trucks must stand

This year 24 December is a Thursday, 26 December a Saturday and 1 January a Friday, so several bans join up with the weekend.

• Germany: 26 December is a Saturday and 27 December a Sunday, so trucks stand from Friday to Sunday, with only 22:00 to midnight open each day. The ban covers empty runs too. Fresh milk and dairy products, fresh meat, fresh fish and perishable fruit and vegetables are exempt.
• Austria: on 26 December the holiday ban and the Saturday ban together cover the whole day. On Sundays and holidays the ban runs straight into the night ban from 22:00 to 5:00.
• Czechia: mornings stay open, but the afternoon ban falls on four days in a row from Christmas Eve.
• Poland: Christmas Eve is not a ban day.
• Italy: the January dates come in the 2027 calendar. Check it before planning the first week of the year.

The Baltic states, Sweden and Finland do not appear in trans.info's Christmas and New Year ban calendar.

Checklist for this winter

1. By 10 November: no summer tyres on anything that drives in Lithuania, and winter tyres on every heavy truck and trailer bound for Sweden.
2. Check the marks, not only the tread. Germany and Sweden want 3PMSF on the drive and steer axles; Austria accepts M+S.
3. Start with margin. A drive tyre at exactly 5 mm in November will not stay legal in Austria or Sweden until April, and Czechia asks for 6 mm.
4. Chains in the cab from 1 November for any truck that may go to or through Austria, in the size of the drive tyres.
5. Plan around 25 to 27 December. A truck still in Germany when 25 December begins can only move between 22:00 and midnight until Sunday night. Price waiting days into the quote, as you do with tolls.
6. Check before you go. French prefects set the mountain communes each season, and Italy publishes its ban calendar every year.