The bank holiday getaway is likely to be a tricky one, with transport analysts predicting congested roads and the year’s busiest day so far for departing airports, while long-distance rail passengers dodge the start of more engineering work.
Motoring organisations forecast traffic to be at its worst on Friday, with many drivers surveyed apparently taking an extra day off before the long weekend and half-term break for most schools in England and Wales.
The RAC said an extra 3.4m car trips for leisure would be made that day, while the AA said the total number of cars on the road would top 20m. The most severe congestion is forecast on the usual hotspots of the M25 motorway and all routes down to the south-west.
The traffic analyst Inrix predicted delays on the M25 anticlockwise near the Dartford Crossing around lunchtime and on the south-western flank during the evening rush hour.
Those driving on Friday or Saturday could dodge the worst of the traffic with an afternoon journey, the RAC suggested, as many drivers surveyed were planning an early start. Either way, few are likely to avoid delays on the A30 or A303 westbound or the M5 southbound towards Devon and Cornwall, where journeys could take up to an hour longer than usual.
A Met Office forecast of unsettled and wet weather could dampen the traffic over the bank holiday weekend. The RAC expects heavy traffic on Friday 30 May as returning holidaymakers combine with weekday drivers.
Rail passengers on two major routes out of London can expect disruption and delay over the bank holiday weekend, with some parts of the network closed throughout the half-term week for track upgrades and work to deliver the HS2 high-speed railway.
There will be no trains between London St Pancras and Bedford on Saturday or Sunday, affecting East Midlands Railway and Thameslink services, including services to Luton airport.
A reduced service will operate on Britain’s busiest rail route, the West Coast main line, from Saturday until Friday, affecting Avanti intercity trains from London Euston to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. Fewer trains will run and journey times may be extended by hours, with rail replacement buses required on some routes around Coventry. West Midlands Trains and CrossCountry services will also be affected.
Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said: “While the vast majority of the network will remain open for business as usual, we’re encouraging passengers planning to use the railway to check their journeys in advance.”
Meanwhile, UK airports are expecting their busiest day for departures this year so far on Friday, with more than 3,200 flights taking off. Over the next four days 12,185 departing flights are scheduled, carrying up to 2.2 million passengers, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The figure is roughly 4% higher than over the early May bank holiday weekend. The highest numbers of passengers jetting abroad will be heading to Dublin, Amsterdam, Palma, Alicante and Málaga.
Abta, the UK travel association, urged those going overseas to take out insurance after its research found that one in four went on holiday uninsured last year, including more than 40% of people aged between 25 and 34.