Car batteries are less afficient in cold temperatures. In really cold countries cars have higher capacity batteries fitted as standard, because otherwise your car might not even start in -30 C.

BMW operate a similar system. If the air temp is under 3 C, then the auto-stop/start does not operate.

This is to protect the battery from premature failure. It is not a fault or a 'problem'.

The Ford driver's manual states that "stop-start" function will not operate when outside temperatures are too high or too low but does not give the temperatures.

It's not just the ambient temperature, it also takes the battery charge status into account - all car batteries have to work harder in cold weather - takes more energy to start the car from cold, heated rear windows, heated seats, low engine rpm in traffic, etc all reduce the battery charge.

It may be that S/S isn't standard in cold climate countries.

Will you be too bothered if it never works again?

Getting stuck in traffic and the starter motor and battery has the equivalent of a months use in 10 minutes. When I walk along by a stream of stationary traffic all I hear is a chorus of clicking starter motors.

Is this really progress? Or do the missions actually rise after the car starts up rather than keep it ticking over ?

Diesel engines have no EGR at idle and so in towns they can be quite polluting. That's mainly what the stop/start system is meant for. If you wish to override it you can by either keeping your foot on the clutch pedal (although this isn't recommended) or you can use the button on the dash to disable it. Personally I keep mine working as normal as it doesn't really bother me.

I disliked mine to start with - but soon got used to it as I discovered that the brake pedal switch has two positions - by carefully ALMOST releasing the brake pedal, I can restart the engine but stop the car moving.

And I can apply the electronic handbrake, select neutral on the autobox and release footbrake - to avoid dazzling the numpties who pull up too close behind me!