Drivers are set to face a “hat-trick of hold-ups” as the upcoming bank holiday weekend coincides with the end of the Easter holidays for many schools, according to a warning from the RAC.
The organization predicts “equally severe” traffic on Thursday, Good Friday, and Saturday, with an estimated 2.7 million leisure car trips planned across the UK each day.
Delays of over an hour are anticipated on the M25 from Junction 7 for Gatwick airport to Junction 16 for the M40 on Thursday, with the M6 north of Chester and the M25 clockwise towards Godstone, Surrey also highlighted as potential hotspots.
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Good Friday is expected to see the lengthiest hold-ups between 11am and 1pm, particularly on popular routes such as the A303 in Wiltshire and the M5 southbound from Bristol.
With Easter three weeks later this year, RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson advises drivers to anticipate “extremely high levels of traffic from Thursday onwards” as the late bank holiday weekend coincides with the end of the Easter break for many schools.
Alice Simpson also advises travellers to plan their journeys to avoid the peak traffic times, recommending early morning or late evening travel to reduce congestion, especially for those heading to holiday destinations like the West Country, Scotland, or Wales.
The Port of Dover projects around 5,500 cars embarking on outbound ferry sailings between 6am and 1pm on Good Friday, while Operation Brock, a traffic management system, will be in place in Kent until April 22, with a reduced speed limit and specific lanes for lorries.
Additionally, Network Rail is conducting engineering work that will impact several routes, particularly at London Euston, where services to or from Milton Keynes will be affected.
VisitEngland estimates around 10.6 million British adults are planning UK holidays over the bank holiday, with 11,282 flights scheduled to depart from UK airports between Good Friday and Easter Monday, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.