--- title: "When It Snows Above Alcoi: Lockouts in the Urbanisations" description: "Snow is not rare in the hills round Alcoi. Shut out of a house in an urbanisation on a cold night? Where to wait, what to say, and what not to force." url: "https://locksmithalcoi.es/blog/when-it-snows-above-alcoi/" business: "Locksmith Alcoi" --- # When it snows above Alcoi: a lockout in the urbanisations Snow is not rare in the hills round Alcoi. If you are shut out of a house in one of the urbanisations on a cold night, this is where to wait, what to say on the phone and what not to do to a frozen lock. 5 October 2026 · 4 minutes to read People who know Alcoi only from the coast are often surprised by its winters. The town stands at 561 metres, surrounded by mountains that rise to 1,000 and 1,300 metres. January nights average around 4 °C, frost comes with the cold spells, and the lowest temperature on record is −5.2 °C, on 20 December 2009. Snow is not an everyday event in the Foia d’Alcoi, but it is not an extraordinary one either. On 5 December 1997, for example, 70 litres of rain and snow fell on the town in 24 hours, and it settled above about 700 metres. This guide is for the settlements outside the town, l’Estepar, Baradello-Sargento, Montesol, Sol i Camp and the houses towards the Font Roja, where a house is found by the name of the urbanisation rather than by the street. ## First: get warm A lockout on a cold night is a problem with a lock. Getting cold is a problem with you, and it comes first. - **If you have a car, sit in it** with the engine running in short bursts, in the open air. - **Knock on a neighbour’s door.** The nearest lit window is worth trying. - **If you or someone with you is getting dangerously cold,** ring 112 before anyone else. ## Then ring, and say three things 1. **Which urbanisation, and a pin.** Houses out here are found by the urbanisation and the partida rather than by a street number. Share your location on WhatsApp and add the name. 2. **What the road is like.** Whether the last stretch is steep, whether it has been gritted, whether there is a gate at the entrance. You will get a more honest journey time if the person on the phone knows. 3. **What the lock is doing.** Shut out with the keys inside, key will not go in, key goes in and will not turn. Being outside the town does not change the price rules: it is agreed on site, before any work starts. It may change the journey time, and you should be told that on the phone, not discover it at the door. The guide to [describing where you are in Alcoi](https://locksmithalcoi.es/blog/above-or-below-the-bridge/) has more on getting the details right. ## If the lock is frozen Water that gets into a lock, a padlock or the hook of a gate can freeze overnight. - **Don’t pour hot water on it.** It may work for a minute and then freeze again, harder, with more water inside. - **Don’t force the key.** A cold key is more brittle than a warm one. - **Do warm the key** in your hand or with a lighter for a few seconds, and try it gently, several times. - **Do use a lock de-icer** if you have one in the car. Padlocks on the gates of country houses and outbuildings are the usual victims. If you have just taken over a house in the hills or in one of the villages, the [first-week lock check](https://locksmithalcoi.es/blog/first-week-in-an-el-comtat-village-house/) is worth reading before the first frost. The phone is answered at any hour, and you are told honestly how long the journey looks in the conditions that night. [Emergency locksmith in Alcoi, from Batoi to Font Dolça at any hour](https://locksmithalcoi.es/emergency-locksmith-alcoi/) Read next - [Above or below the bridge](https://locksmithalcoi.es/blog/above-or-below-the-bridge/) · 4 min - [First week in an El Comtat village house](https://locksmithalcoi.es/blog/first-week-in-an-el-comtat-village-house/) · 5 min - [All the guides for Alcoi and El Comtat](https://locksmithalcoi.es/blog/) ## Easier to talk it through? Ring, or send a photo of the lock and where you are on WhatsApp. Open 24 hours · 7 days [+34 678 583 290](tel:+34678583290) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/34678583290?text=Hi%2C%20I%20need%20a%20locksmith%20in%20Alcoi.%20Where%20I%20am%20(barri%20or%20town%2C%20street%2C%20which%20bridge%20it%20is%20near)%20and%20what%20has%20happened%3A)