We’re dreaming of a white Christmas, but this time of year can be challenging in the home – whether it’s keeping warm and toasty when the whether outside is frightful, or making sure your twinkling lights aren’t putting you at risk of a nightmare before Christmas.

Don’t forget, you can check out our winter safety tips at any time for advice on everything from keeping your boiler up and running, to making sure your pipes don’t freeze.

Here are some of our other top tips for staying safe and warm this festive season and beyond:

Use your curtains

Did you know a great way to maximise heat is to get your curtains involved? Open them when the sun rises and get as much sunlight as possible into the room, and then as soon as the sun starts to set, close them up to keep the heat circulating in your space.

Close the door

If you’re not spending a lot of time in a particular room, shut the door behind you so the warm air in your house stays where you need it most.

Try a draught excluder

It might be a little bit old school, but a draught excluder is a really effective way to keep the cold air out of your home. You can get them in many different designs – how about a sausage dog guarding the house? – or make your own using a pair of old jeans and some socks or tights as filling.

O’ Christmas Tree, O’ Christmas Tree!

If you’re getting a real Christmas tree, make sure you keep it well-watered to keep it looking its festive best and to stop it drying out – if the needles become too dry they are extremely flammable and just a spark nearby could ignite a fire which will spread quickly through the branches. Similarly, you should never use hairspray to prevent the needles from dropping away from your tree.

Deck the halls

If you’re looking for something a little more modern than a bough of holly you might have fairy lights twinkling away to mark the season. Make sure you don’t overload plug sockets and never daisy chain extension cables as this is a serious fire risk.

Visit Electrical Safety First for more advice on electrical safety this festive season.