Amber warnings for traffic gridlock, threatened strikes and the traditional rail engineering work interrupting major train links: it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
The festive season this winter will be busier than ever, with record numbers of travellers predicted at London Heathrow and many other airports, as well as on Britain’s motorways.
These are the key pinch points and potential problems – to help you plan to swerve the disruption, or at least to be prepared for crowds and chaos.
Road
As Christmas falls mid-week this year, the RAC predicts there will be an extended period of “pre-Christmas panic” on the roads, with 5.7m extra trips being taken this Wednesday and Thursday alone. The peak times are 1pm-6pm on 18 December and 8am-6pm the following day.
Friday 20 December is set to be the busiest day of the winter on motorways and trunk roads according to rival motoring organisation the AA, which predicts a record 23.7 million car journeys. The organisation warns Saturday 21 and Monday 23 December will also be extremely busy, with 22.7 million on each day. The RAC, meanwhile, predicts 1-6pm on Saturday and 10am-4pm on Monday will be the busiest times.
The AA has issued amber warnings for 20, 21 and 23 December, “due to the volume of congestion predicted”.
While most of those journeys are expected to be under 50 miles, The Independent has analysed AA figures to calculate that one in seven motorists plans to drive more than 100 miles on “frantic Friday”.
The AA predicts the heaviest traffic on Friday 20 December to be on these roads:
- M25 western section, particularly between the M3 and M4 interchanges, including Heathrow Airport; The RAC warns of congestion on the stretch all the way from the M1 to the M23 (Gatwick and Brighton).
- M4 heading west from London towards Bristol, as well as around Newport and Cardiff.
- A34 between Newbury and Oxford.
- M27 in Hampshire from Southampton to Portsmouth.
- M6 in the West Midlands between junction 4 (M42) and junction 11 (Wolverhampton), especially at the M5 interchange.
- A38 in Somerset, with particular pressure around Bristol airport.
In addition, the RAC warns the M53 from Chester to Liverpool will be particularly hard hit on Friday during the evening rush-hour.
The RAC is calling 21 December “snarl-up Saturday,” and says it will see the highest…
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