The Christmas getaway is expected to start in earnest across Britain’s transport networks, with motoring organisations forecasting roads will be at their busiest on Friday afternoon and evening.
Airports are expecting a peak in flights through this weekend, while rail passengers have been warned of days of severe disruption as major engineering work is planned.
Traffic analysts expect the pre-Christmas rush to be tempered by getaway journeys spread over the next four days. The worst congestion on the major trunk routes is expected Friday, with most schools breaking up and people travelling to take full advantage of the holidays. Journeys on some roads will take more than twice as long as usual, according to data from Inrix.
The Highways Agency has pledged to complete or lift 156 roadwork schemes affecting 400 miles of road by 23 December, although many remain in place now, including on the M4 and the M1.
On Friday morning there were reports of delays for Gatwick-bound travellers on the railway due to signalling problems at Burgess Hill in West Sussex. The problem affected Gatwick Express services and was causing delays to Southern and Thameslink services.
British Airways has its busiest day on December 19 with 129,000 passengers flying. In total 116,700 passengers are expected to depart from Heathrow today. Gatwick’s busiest departure day will be Sunday when 64,000 passengers are anticipated to fly out, with Geneva as the most popular European leisure destination. EasyJet predicts its busiest Christmas getaway weekend ever with more than 170,000 passengers flying.
Delays on the motorways are expected to peak at around 4pm, when there could be up to 20 million cars on the road, with motorways including the M1, M25 and M6, liable to see crawling traffic. The longest delays will be found on the M25 anti-clockwise between the junctions with the M1 and the M3. Average speeds are predicted to fall to 14mph on the M56 outside Manchester and the M5 joining the M6 in Birmingham. Next Tuesday, 23 December, and Saturday 27 December are also expected to be particularly busy days on the roads.
The AA has warned that localised heavy traffic will persist until Christmas, with commuter rush hour replaced by daytime jams around retail parks.
Falling fuel prices will give motorists some festive cheer – an average £8 per tank saving, according to the RAC. Meanwhile, with more wet weather forecast, the AA and the Environment Agency have reminded drivers not to risk driving through flood water. Last Christmas Eve the AA pulled 642 vehicles from floods, its highest number of rescues in a day for five years.
Eurostar trains to the continent will be at their busiest today, starting a holiday season when 5% more passengers are booked to travel abroad than last year.
Some disruption is expected on the railways, although some of the biggest engineering works have been scheduled to start from Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when trains normally do not run. Network Rail will have 11,000 engineers working over that Christmas holiday period on projects including the West Coast main line, London Bridge and Reading stations.
Work to bring a new signalling system at Watford will close the main line running northwest from London to Birmingham and Manchester until the morning of 29 December, meaning far fewer and slower trains in and out of the capital for the weekend after Christmas. Rail services on First Great Western and East Coast main lines will also be reduced over the same weekend.
The upgrade of London Bridge for new Thameslink trains will see the national rail station closed to most trains for two weeks from Saturday with some services diverted to other stations, affecting 12 million journeys.
National Express has reported record demand for its coaches with bookings up nearly 40% as rail passengers seek alternatives.
London Underground tube services will be running on Boxing Day, as well as free of charge until 4am on New Year’s Eve.
