Winter is a beautiful time of the year for many (or depressing if you’re Canadian). With it comes Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the scenery in some countries can be breathtaking with beautiful landscapes of seemingly never-ending white snow.

It’s no wonder you’d want to take out your drone and take as many shots as you can with it, but as you can imagine, the extreme temperatures will not make it easy for you.

First of all, is it possible to fly your drone in winter?



The answer is yes. You can indeed fly a drone in cold temperatures, provided you take proper precautions to ensure it doesn’t get damaged.



Here we’ll list some of the things to watch out for, and what you can do to prepare!



The environment and your drone



You must always be aware of the weather and if the conditions are good enough to fly your drone.



Winter is harsh, and there are many things you should be aware of so you can prevent damaging your drone. For example, in some countries winter days can go below 0 degrees. Now as we know our drones use batteries for power, and soon you’ll notice this will be the biggest challenge when it comes to flying your drone in winter.



If you ever used a phone outside in winter you probably experienced your battery draining quicker than usual. This is because very low temperatures can mess with the chemical activity inside your batteries, and can cause them to produce less current (have less power).



The same goes for drones, especially when drones zoom through the cold air at 40mph. And believe me, that is FREEZING. So don’t be surprised to see your drone at a critical battery level sooner than you normally expect.



Though your drone will warn you if the battery needs to be warmed up before takeoff, you should still try keeping them warmish to avoid damage from too much temperature fluctuations.



One thing you can do is put them inside your vehicle with the heater on so that it soaks up on the ambient temperature before you use them. There’s also the option of getting a dedicated battery heater from DJI as well. Or just keep the batteries in your inside jacket pocket, so your body heat keeps them warm.



So, though we know that we CAN fly in cold weather, we learned that flight time is reduced and it should be carefully monitored.



The next thing you should be aware of is that your drone has electronics inside of it, and as it is common knowledge, dipping electronic devices in water is a big no-no.



For that same reason, you should avoid flying in rain, snow, mist, fog, and similar conditions. Water can get inside the drone and your drone could have a stroke. Yep, that stroke.



Fog and mist are something to watch out for and not necessarily for the humidity.

You wouldn’t want your brand new almost white Mavic Mini to disappear in all that snow, would you? It would be almost impossible to spot.

Well, I lost mine yesterday. Can you help me find it?

Now if the water still doesn’t enter the drone, it can do something pretty annoying. Clear ice can build up on your propellers, and this can happen due to the so-called Freezing Drizzle.

It inhibits your control of the aircraft in a way that ice changes the shape of the propellers, and they can’t push the air the same as before. This can prevent the drone from flying back home and you can potentially lose it.



Winter is definitely extreme, and as such, you must be very careful so that your drone isn’t damaged by mother nature.



The environment and you (the pilot)



We, humans, are creatures of moderate temperatures, and like our electronics, we are fragile as well. Frostbite, for instance, can be a real pain when trying to use controllers or a touchscreen.



Luckily we thought of this problem ever since smartphones became a big deal: the easiest solution is to get touchscreen gloves. Your hands will stay warm and you’ll still be able to use both your phone and the controller.

I recommend this pair of winter touchscreen gloves. They are cheap and serve the purpose well!

Winter Touchscreen Gloves

Settings for your camera



Here we have three things to take care of so you can properly capture great images of snowy landscapes.



First, you gotta set your exposure manually. Auto mode can result in dark images because the reflectiveness of the snow makes the software think it’s a very bright landscape instead. By setting your exposure lower, you’ll be compensating for this.

Learn how to always set the correct exposure using a histogram here.

But exposure isn’t enough! Before you’re ready you gotta adjust white balance too. Adjusting white balance to suit snowy landscapes is important because otherwise, the snow will look like a boring grey.



Lastly, you may want to consider using ND filters or polarizers. Snow, being as reflective and bright as it is, produces lots of glare. Polarizers are specifically meant to reduce glare, and ND filters reduce the amount of light that enters the sensor without affecting the image, which lets you take more “cinematic” looking shots.

Check out our Drone ND Filters Guide to learn more.

With those three things out of the way, you should be ready to take majestic shots of winter!



Keeping your drone safe



Lastly, we must ensure that your drone is stored safely!



The easiest way to do this is to keep your drone and accessories in one of your bags or backpacks in a place with room temperature. Your car’s heater should do fine for this job. Even if the batteries aren’t in use, cold temperatures can still hurt them, so don’t keep your stuff out in the open for too long!



Remember as well to fully discharge and then recharge your batteries once every 3 months or so to maintain their health, and to keep them in a fireproof bag to be safe (especially if you’re gonna travel!)



In summary



To make a long story short:



Keep your batteries warm.

The lower temperatures will make the batteries run out quicker than usual.

Don’t fly below 0° C.

Don’t fly in rain, snow, fog or mist.

Beware of ice build-up on the propellers.

Keep yourself warm.

Be careful with your phone’s battery as well.

Set manually your white balance and exposure.

Keep your drone and accessories stored safely in room temperature

Have fun with your drone this winter, and remember to be safe!

