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Motoring news

Busiest weekend for AA as ice grips road network

21/12/2009

Motoring organisation the AA is highlighting the dangers posed by icy conditions on the roads after its busiest weekend of the year.

Some 35,000 people sought assistance from the AA after suffering breakdowns over Saturday and Sunday, president Edmund King told BBC4's Today programme.

Snow is continuing to fall in parts of the UK today, mostly affecting northern and western areas, though this will clear overnight, the Met Office says, leaving cold weather and showers in the run-up to Christmas Day.

The AA also warned that the next few days are set to see adverse conditions compounded by the normal Christmas exodus - highlighting a survey of its members that found that 30% were planning on travelling on Wednesday, with 28% heading out on Christmas Eve.

While advising travellers to stick to the main roads, King acknowledged that many drivers would have to negotiate problematic stretches to get to them.

"Obviously you've got to get to the main roads - some of the local roads are like ice rinks, they are absolutely treacherous," he said.

"On many of the local roads they've had a layer of snow that's been compacted down.

"If they were gritted, the grit really hasn't had that much effect, and you've almost got sheer ice there.

"At least [with] the snow you can see it; black ice you can't see it."

Last week the AA warned that the road network could slip into a "freezing gridlock", saying that only half of local authorities had sufficient stocks of salt to cope with six days of freezing conditions. However, Local Government Association transport chairman David Sparks accused the AA of "panic-mongering", saying that councils have a range of measures besides simply stockpiling salt, enabling them to meet demand in peak periods.