Dave gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

It's all about the increased safety margin throughout the cold weather,
though - winter tyres grip much better even on cold, dry tarmac below
about 5 deg.

That raises a question. Major roads around here (A6) have been gritted.
But I still find my ABS kicks in on an apparently clear road. The
temperature is only 0 degrees C.

WTF is going on? It can't be black ice. It's not cold enough.

It's because the rubber in your stone cold tyres is failing to grip the
tarmac properly.