Pipe's frozen. Gentle heat. No flames.

How do I know it's frozen and not broken?

The tell is timing. A tap that ran fine yesterday slows to a dribble or stops dead during a frost — that's ice, not coincidence. Usually it's one tap or one run of pipe, while the rest of the house carries on as normal.

Now find the culprit. Follow the pipe from the silent tap back towards the cold spots: the loft, the garage, an outbuilding, anything clipped to an outside wall. Look for a section that's noticeably colder than the rest, sometimes with frost on the outside. Ayr winters are more wind than deep freeze, but a raw seafront wind finds under-insulated pipework quickly when a hard frost does land — and it's the unlagged runs that go first.

What's the safe way to thaw it?

Slowly, gently, in this order:

1. Stopcock off. If the pipe has split under the ice, this is what stands between you and a flood when it melts.
2. Open the affected tap. It gives melting water somewhere to go and shows you the moment flow returns.
3. Gentle heat, tap end first. Hairdryer on low, warm towels wrapped round the pipe, or just heat the room and wait. Work backwards from the tap towards the frozen section.
4. No flames. Ever. No blowtorch, no heat gun on full, nothing that burns. Fierce heat cracks pipes, melts joints and sets fire to lofts.
5. Watch as it thaws. Any weeping, bulging or spraying — water stays off, and the phone comes out.

It thawed. Now there's water. Why?

Because ice expands. The freeze split the pipe hours ago; the plug of ice was the only thing sealing the hole. As it melts, the leak introduces itself.

Same drill as any burst: stopcock off, cold taps open to drain the system, power off at the consumer unit if water is near anything electric and you can reach it safely. Keep the supply off until the split is repaired — turning it back on "to check" just runs the flood on a schedule. The burst pipes guide walks through the full five steps.

How do I stop it happening again?

Cheaply, mostly:

• Lag the cold runs. Foam pipe insulation from any DIY shop, on everything in the loft, the garage, outbuildings and along outside walls. Don't forget the bends and the outside tap.
• Keep the heating ticking over in a cold snap — low and steady beats off and hoping. A crack in the loft hatch lets warmth reach loft pipes.
• Know your stopcock. Find it before winter does. Under the kitchen sink first, then wherever the mains enters the house.
• Going away? Heating on low or the system drained down, and someone to look in. An empty house in a freeze is where the worst calls start.