M+S symbol

“Snow tyre” means a tyre whose tread pattern, tread compound or structure are primarily designed to achieve in snow conditions a performance better than that of a normal tyre with regard to its ability to initiate or maintain vehicle motion.

"Snowflake-on-the-Mountain" symbol

The marking "Snowflake-on-the-Mountain" identifies winter tires according to the tire industry standard which is based on an American Snow tire definition. These tires provide high performance with regards to safety and control on snow, on icy road and in general at deep temperatures.

Special case 4x4/SUV tires

Many SUVs and Off-road-Vehicles are equipped with tires carrying the „M+S“ marking on the sidewall. The reason for this is that this vehicle category was first offered in North America where all-season tires with „M+S“ marking are customary. Within the tire portfolio of Continental this applies for example to the product lines ContiCrossContact LX, ContiCrossContact LX Sport or Conti4x4Contact.
M+S marking is officially defined in an EU directive as meaning: “a tire with a tread pattern and structure designed to better performance in snow than that of a normal tire”. The performance of “M+S” marked tires is therefore neither defined nor measured.
The snow performance of winter tires is specified in North America with the so-called "Snowflake-on-the-Mountain" symbol. Only tires which meet or exceed these requirements may carry the "Snowflake-on-the-Mountain" symbol.

Continental recommendation
Even though M+S marked tires are in some European countries regarded by law as winter tires Continental recommends to use winter tires with the "Snowflake-on-the-Mountain" on the sidewall and a tread depth of at least 4 mm in winterly conditions.