Easter travel warning: RAC says to prepare for three days of long queues on motorways

Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Saturday have been described as a “hat-trick of hold-ups” as the bank holiday weekend coincides with the end of the Easter holidays for many schools, a motoring organisation warned.

The RAC said traffic will be “equally severe” on those days with an estimated 2.7m leisure trips by car planned across the UK each day.

More than 19 million leisure journeys are planned between Thursday and Easter Monday, including 6.2 million which drivers intend to make over the period but are unsure on the exact day.

Transport analytics company Inrix predicted delays of more than an hour on the 35-mile stretch of the M25 from Junction 7 for Gatwick airport to Junction 16 for the M40 on Thursday. It also highlighted the M6 north of Chester and the M25 clockwise towards Godstone, Surrey, as likely traffic hotspots that day.

On Good Friday, the lengthiest hold-ups are expected to be between 11am and 1pm.

Drivers using two popular routes to the South West – the A303 in Wiltshire and the M5 southbound from Bristol – are being warned of long queues, particularly during that period.

Easter is three weeks later this year than in 2024, which is expected to affect road use.

RAC breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson urged drivers to expect “extremely high levels of traffic from Thursday onwards”.

She said: “The late bank holiday weekend clashes with the end of the Easter break for many schools – which we think will change the nature of this year’s getaway. Although journey numbers are still very high, we’re anticipating more day trips and weekend breaks than people heading off on one and two-week stints. This could lead to a hat-trick of hold-ups on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as drivers visit family and friends. Drivers shouldn’t expect to escape the queues if they don’t plan the best time to set off.

“It’s always best to travel as early as possible in the morning or later in the day when most of the traffic has eased, especially if headed to popular holiday destinations such as the West Country, Scotland or Wales.”

The Port of Dover said it is expects to process around 5,500 cars embarking on outbound ferry sailings between 6am and 1pm on Good Friday. It urged drivers travelling to the port to use main routes only and arrive no more than two hours ahead of their scheduled sailing. On Sunday it saw delays as French IT systems for processing passport checks broke down, but these were fixed.

Traffic management system Operation Brock will be in place in Kent until April 22. The scheme involves narrow lanes and a reduced 50mph speed limit. It is designed to manage traffic flows on the M20 motorway, with lorries heading for the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel directed to a specific lane.

Network Rail is conducting engineering work in several locations this weekend, causing disruption to a number of routes.

The most significant impact will be at London Euston, where there will be no services to or from Milton Keynes on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, and a reduced timetable on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Tourism authority VisitEngland said around 10.6 million British adults are planning to take a holiday in the UK over the bank holiday period. Aviation analytics company Cirium said 11,282 flights are scheduled to depart from UK airports between Good Friday and Easter Monday.