Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Flat Battery Wednesday’ to hit country, warns Halfords

(PA)
(PA)

Today marks the first day back at work for many Britons after the festive break – but not all of them will have a seamless commute.

Motoring retailer Halfords has warned that ‘potentially millions of motorists’ could be left stranded on what it’s dubbed ‘Flat Battery Wednesday’.

A combination of poor battery maintenance, cold temperatures and cars left unused over Christmas can leave vehicles with no juice to get drivers going in the morning, often leaving them stranded and in need of a jump-start.

In fact, the AA predicts that January 2 will be one of its busiest days of the year, with the breakdown service expecting to attend more than 13,000 incidents – 29 per cent more than usual.

Halfords says it sees demand for replacement car batteries double over the Christmas period. But the quality of the battery isn’t the only issue, as the company’s research found that Brits are pretty clueless when it comes to battery maintenance. Nearly half of motorists who were quizzed (46 per cent) said they didn’t know how to jump-start their car, while some one in six of 25-to-34-year-olds (16 per cent) said they didn’t know where to find their car’s battery.

The survey of 2,000 motorists also found that 40 per cent of Brits avoid driving at all in wintry weather. However, leaving cars unused over Christmas or only using them for local trips can result in a flat battery, as starting the car takes more energy from the battery than the alternator can put back over a short journey.

Using the heater, windscreen wipers and headlights also increases load on the battery, while cold temperatures decrease battery efficiency in general.

The AA’s patrolman of the year, George Flinton, said: “The first working day back in January is typically one of the busiest of the year for the AA, with flat batteries the main culprit.

“Over the Christmas break, many cars get left unused. That causes the output of the battery to drop which, especially for old batteries, can mean they don’t have the power to turn the engine over.”

The AA recommends taking your car on regular trips of half an hour or longer to boost the battery, or connecting it to a trickle charger if possible.