So you're in lane 2 overtaking lorries at 70, when all of a sudden you notice lane 1 has slowed significantly but lane 2 is still going along at 70. You need to get into lane 1 which is now standstill, the cars in front and behind you all clearly want to do at least 50 still. How do you safely get into the first lane? Bear in mind this is still over 2 miles from the exit. No signs had yet shown it's all traffic from people that obviously drive the route daily and expect this situation.
How to merge into a standstill lane 1
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All you can do is start to gradually slow and indicate hoping someone will let you in. You will get in eventually but people are stubborn ****s who think you did it on purpose to gain places in the queue.
We had this once when on holiday navigating our way to Wales with maps (before sat nav was popular) and we realized very late we had to get off a dual carriageway but we were down a queue that started miles back. We sat in lane 1 indicating waiting to be let in to the slip for about 5 minutes with massive lorries driving past us in lane 2 beeping. Very dangerous. Should really have carried on and turned round further up but hey.
We had this once when on holiday navigating our way to Wales with maps (before sat nav was popular) and we realized very late we had to get off a dual carriageway but we were down a queue that started miles back. We sat in lane 1 indicating waiting to be let in to the slip for about 5 minutes with massive lorries driving past us in lane 2 beeping. Very dangerous. Should really have carried on and turned round further up but hey.
First it was parking, now this? And you've been driving for 5 years or something?!.... 
I don't normally worry about pulling in until I'm about 1 mile away from the exit. If you suddenly notice that lane 1 is at a standstill, you signal left (to let the person behind know that you're slowing down and want to pull in) and gradually slow down until you find a space that's big enough for you to pull in safely without cutting someone up. There's ALWAYS a space, you just need to time it right..
If by the time you reach the exit and you still can't find a space to pull in... then I would rather drive to the next junction and turn back than hold all the cars up and cause even more traffic.
I don't normally worry about pulling in until I'm about 1 mile away from the exit. If you suddenly notice that lane 1 is at a standstill, you signal left (to let the person behind know that you're slowing down and want to pull in) and gradually slow down until you find a space that's big enough for you to pull in safely without cutting someone up. There's ALWAYS a space, you just need to time it right..
If by the time you reach the exit and you still can't find a space to pull in... then I would rather drive to the next junction and turn back than hold all the cars up and cause even more traffic.
This is sort of what I meant, this is pretty much what happened to me last Wednesday, since then I've been making the same journey and each day I've had to get into the first lane several miles before there is any notice of a turn off. Each day I've seen other cars get beeped at by lorries. I make sure to leave loads of room myself but I know I can't rely on others to do this for me. Kind of why I made this thread really. It seems in this the only truly 'safe' thing to dip is drive to the next junction but that is surely ridiculous.