With just a few days of 2017 gone, some things never change.

AA Rescue is reporting that it has probably already had its busiest morning of the year.

Tuesday was the first day back for the bulk of the Irish workforce.

The AA say the January return is often the single busiest day of the whole calendar year - as cars that have been left untouched for two weeks all try to start again in the same morning peak.

Conor Faughnan is director of consumer affairs at AA Ireland: "We were expecting this and we are geared up for it but it is challenging all the same.

"We had well over 400 individual breakdowns before lunchtime and it didn't slow down all day."

Cars left untouched for a week or more often suffer a flat battery, the AA says - especially if the battery itself is weak or old.

It also says cold weather makes that effect worse.

It happens after summer holidays as well, but the simultaneous return of so many people after Christmas means a big surge in demand for rescue services.

The AA expect to be busy again tomorrow and on Monday of next week, before normal patterns resume.