PORTLAND — Northern New England drivers have been besieged by dead car batteries this week as temperatures have plummeted.

AAA Northern New England said it responded to nearly 3,000 calls for help in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont on Wednesday. That was a 50% increase from the previous Wednesday.

Much of the increase had to do with the cold, AAA spokesman Patrick Moody said.

“Roughly 40% of those calls were battery related where members requested jumpstarts or battery replacement service,” Moody said.

The trend was similar Thursday, he said, but call volume has ticked down a notch because temperatures weren’t quite as severe in some areas.

Record low daily temperatures were set this week in Burlington, Vermont, and Augusta, Maine. Temperatures fell as low as the single digits in the early morning hours of Wednesday in some parts of the Northeast.

Temperatures are expected to rebound somewhat Friday, when temperatures in Portland are expected to reach the mid-40s.


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