For those of you with experience of walking in winter, do you use or take anything different or extra with you that you don't in summer; excluding the obvious hat and gloves. For example do you take a blanket and a torch? Boots instead of shoes? Extra food and water? Anything to shelter you from a snowstorm or freezing cold rain? Spare phone (batteries don't like the cold do they)?
Depends on high level or low level. Ice axe, crampons - worth taking at least one of these in mountain areas even if no snow visible. An ice-sheet caused by a stream across a footpath can be impassable sometimes without either. Two-man shelter sometimes in winter. Spare gloves, hat, layers, spare batteries for head torch etc. Thicker overtrousers, with extra fabric near the bottom of the legs (not quite as likely to rip if you stab yourself with a crampon point).
The last time we did a winter walk we wore base layer tops and legging things, and we took foil blankets, whistles and a flask of tea each as well as the obvious hats, gloves etc. Really enjoyed walking in thick snow-everywhere looked so beautiful.
If you're going on hilly walks in snow and ice some microspike crampons are worth having. Not the full-on mountaineering crampons but more like snow-chains for feet. I have the older version of these: Link, which are pretty good. Pic of my brother and @Lakeslover getting some use out of theirs: It would have been interesting getting down that slope without them on.
