--- title: "When a Villena Frost Reaches the Lock: What to Try First" description: "Villena holds the province’s cold record, -24 °C. On a frozen morning: what to try on a stiff lock or padlock, what never to do, and when it needs a repair." url: "https://locksmithvillena.es/blog/when-a-villena-frost-reaches-the-lock/" business: "Locksmith Villena" --- # The morning the key will not turn: frost and the locks of Villena Villena holds the coldest temperature ever recorded in the province of Alicante. On a freezing morning, here is what is safe to try on a stiff lock or padlock, what makes it worse, and how to tell weather from wear. 5 October 2026 · 5 min read On 17 January 1957 the thermometer in Villena fell to −24 °C, the lowest reading ever taken in the province of Alicante. Nobody needs a winter like that to have trouble with a lock: the town’s own AEMET station recorded −15.2 °C on 29 January 2006, and in early January the average night still drops to around 2 °C. For anyone used to the coast at Alicante, 57 km away, it comes as a surprise. Most mornings, a cold lock is just a slow lock. Some mornings, the key will not go in or will not turn. This is what to do about it. ## What actually happens inside a frozen lock Three different things get called a frozen lock, and they need different treatment: 1. **Water has frozen inside it.** Rain or condensation got into the keyway or the padlock and turned to ice overnight. Common on outdoor padlocks and gate locks. 2. **The oil has thickened.** Ordinary oil, sprayed in at some point to “help”, goes thick in the cold and gums up the pins. The key goes in but turns stiffly. 3. **The door has moved.** Timber shrinks and metal contracts in the cold, and the bolt now catches on the keep. The lock is fine; the door is not. ## What is safe to try - **Warm the key, not the lock.** Hold the key in your hand or over a lighter for a few seconds (the metal, never the plastic head), then try it gently. Repeat. - **Breathe on it, or cup your hands round it.** Slow, but harmless. - **A de-icer made for locks.** Sold for car locks, it works on padlocks and cylinders too. Spray in short bursts. - **Push or lift the door while you turn.** If the key turns that way, the problem is the door, not the lock (see point 3). ## Four things that turn ice into a repair - **Boiling water.** It works for a minute, then the water left inside freezes harder than before, and on a padlock it can crack the body. - **Force.** A key twisted hard in a frozen cylinder snaps, and a snapped key is a much bigger job than a frozen one. - **More oil.** That is often what caused it. - **A blowtorch.** It damages the cylinder and, on a wooden door, the door. ## After the thaw Once it turns again, a dry lubricant made for locks (graphite or PTFE) is what keeps it turning next time. Oil is not. On padlocks and gate locks out in the campo, a small cover over the keyhole stops most of the water getting in. Our guide on [the old lock on a vineyard store](https://locksmithvillena.es/blog/the-old-lock-on-a-vineyard-store/) covers the oldest outdoor locks. ## Weather or wear? The test is simple. If the lock works normally on a mild afternoon and only fights you on frosty mornings, it is the weather, and the steps above deal with it. If it is stiff in all weathers, grinds, or only turns with a push on the door, it is wear or a door out of line. Old houses on a slope, like those in [El Rabal](https://locksmithvillena.es/blog/old-doors-on-the-el-rabal-hillside/), are prone to the second. Higher up the valley it is harder still. Biar, at 697 metres, has had up to 30 cm of snow in exceptional years, and outdoor locks there are likely to spend more nights below freezing than those in town. If you are shut out on a frozen morning and nothing above has worked, that is a call for [the round-the-clock line](https://locksmithvillena.es/emergency-locksmith-villena/), not something to force. **Still stiff when the weather warms up?** Then it is wear, not frost. The page on cylinders and repairs explains what is done about it. [Lock change in Villena, and doors put right after the winter](https://locksmithvillena.es/lock-change-villena/) - [The big old lock on a vineyard store](https://locksmithvillena.es/blog/the-old-lock-on-a-vineyard-store/) · 5 min - [Old doors on the El Rabal hillside](https://locksmithvillena.es/blog/old-doors-on-the-el-rabal-hillside/) · 5 min - [All the guides](https://locksmithvillena.es/blog/) ## Rather we came and looked? Ring, or WhatsApp a photo of the door and a pin. We answer in English or Spanish. Open 24 hours · 7 days [+34 678 583 290](tel:+34678583290) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/34678583290?text=Hello%2C%20I%20need%20a%20locksmith%20around%20Villena.%20The%20town%20or%20pedan%C3%ADa%2C%20the%20street%20and%20what%20is%20wrong%20with%20the%20door%3A)