A bit late on this, but another vote for winter tyres. I got a set for our main car (mondeo) last winter. We live on the edge of the North York Moor, a mile up hill from the main road. We got in and out all the time. A neighbour has a company car and insisted his company changed it from an A6 to a Q5 (but it came on massive wide rims with summer tyres). The Q5 got in and out but following it it looked like bambi on ice, constantly fighting for grip.
Mondeo steel rims are quite cheap. The winter tyres and steel rims are on now.
I got Apollo Acelere Winter tyres (they, Apollo,are Indian but bought Verderstein a few years ago, so they are basically a basic rebadge Verderstein tyre). They are fine in the wet and not appreciably more noisy or any less efficient than the summer Continentals.
It will probably never snow again.
Dave