Broken Down on the A78?
Broken down on the A78? We'll connect you with an available local recovery operator, anywhere on the coast road.
Conditions right now
That doesn't mean the roads are empty, and it doesn't mean your car won't break down. If it does, we're here.
Weather warnings: Met Office, © Crown copyright. Gritting: Ayrshire Roads Alliance.
If you've stopped on the A78
- Get off the carriageway if you possibly can. Take the first safe option, don't try to reach the next town.
- Hazard lights on, immediately.
- Get out on the left. Everyone leaves through the left-hand doors, away from the traffic. Leave animals in the car.
- Get behind a barrier and well back from the road. Not standing beside the vehicle.
- Then call. Once you're safe, and not before.
The A78 hugs the Ayrshire coast, running from Greenock in the north down through Largs, the Three Towns, Kilwinning, Irvine and Troon towards Prestwick. It is a road with a particular set of problems, and most of them come off the sea.
The A78, stretch by stretch
This road is not the same all the way along. Find where you are.
Skelmorlie and Largs
The flooding end
This is the stretch that floods. High winds plus a high tide put water across the carriageway between Largs and Skelmorlie, and the road has been closed at Skelmorlie during storms. It is a recognised flood warning area.
In places the road is pinned between the sea and a wall, and there is genuinely nowhere to pull over.
If you stop here: Do not drive into standing water. If you have stopped on a section with no verge, get out on the left and get behind whatever barrier there is, not on the seaward side.
The Three Towns and Ardrossan
Ferry traffic and salt air
Saltcoats, Ardrossan and Stevenston run into one another along this stretch. The Arran ferry terminal at Ardrossan is a regular source of callouts: cars sit in the terminal car park for a week and do not start when their owners come back off the boat.
Salt air is hard on vehicles generally. Corroded battery terminals and seized brake components are a recurring theme on the coast.
If you stop here: A dead car at a ferry terminal needs moving rather than left. Call and we will get it started or taken away.
Irvine and Troon
Dual carriageway, few places to stop
Through Irvine the A78 is fast dual carriageway with roundabouts. It is a new town road: it moves traffic quickly and gives you very few safe places to stop when something goes wrong.
Do not try to nurse a failing car to the next roundabout. Take the first safe option you get.
If you stop here: Get onto the verge, out on the left, and well away from the carriageway before you call.
Known hazards on the A78
- Flooding between Largs and Skelmorlie when high winds coincide with a high tide. The road has been closed at Skelmorlie in storms.
- In places the road is pinned between the sea and a wall or a railway, with nowhere at all to pull over.
- Fast dual carriageway through Irvine, with roundabouts and few safe stopping places.
- Salt air. Corroded battery terminals and seized components are a recurring cause of callouts on this road.
- Heavy tourist traffic in summer, and the Arran ferry queues at Ardrossan.
How dangerous is the A78?
Flooding is common on the coastal stretch between Largs and Skelmorlie when high winds combine with a high tide, and Skelmorlie is a recognised flood warning area. The A78 was closed there during Storm Eowyn.
If a westerly gale is forecast and you are planning to use the northern end of this road, check before you set off.
The A78 in winter
Spray, standing water and debris across the carriageway in a westerly. The exposed shoreline sections take the weather straight off the Firth of Clyde.
Check before you travel
Need recovery?
Call us and we'll help arrange it, or send the vehicle details and we'll come back to you.