Bank holiday traffic: Millions of drivers warned of tailbacks and long delays on major routes - including M5 and M20
Millions will face road chaos this upcoming August bank holiday weekend.
There are warnings of traffic tailbacks and long delays on major routes as 17.6 million trips by car are expected to be made over the long weekend. The RAC, which issued an alert about road congestion on Tuesday, urged drivers to set off as early as possible or “be prepared to spend longer in traffic”.
The South East and South West are expected to have some of the worst congestion. Friday is expected to see some three million journeys for holidays or day trips by drivers looking to make the most of the last long weekend before Christmas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the RAC said.
This rises to 3.4 million on Saturday, 2.4 million on Sunday and 2.7 million on Monday. The RAC said an additional 6.1 million drivers were planning leisure trips at some point between Friday and Monday.
The figures are based on responses to a national survey of 2,080 adults, extrapolated to the 34 million cars registered in the UK.
Which roads will be the busiest this August bank holiday?
Inrix, a transport analytics company, predicted that the M5 between Bristol and Devon would have the most severe getaway traffic, with the stretch from junction 15 north of Bristol to junction 23, for Bridgwater, likely to see delays of more than 40 minutes on Friday and Saturday. Hold-ups exceeding half an hour are forecast on Friday on the M20 in Kent, a route taken by a large proportion of vehicles making Channel crossings via Dover or Folkestone.
The warning relates to journeys from junction seven near Maidstone to junction three, the Addington interchange, and from junction one at Swanley to junction five at Aylesford.