More than 5.3 million leisure car journey made on Friday

Saturday, July 20, 2019

According to study by the RAC and Inrix drivers will be taking 13.4 million trip during the weekend which will be the highest number in five years and 4 million more than last year.

Families will get away for summer  and more than 5.3 million leisure car journeys was made on Friday. The RAC added that it was the worst day for congestion as summer getaways added to normal traffic.

The Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mark Sidaway said that the wet weather will cause poor driving conditions mainly in the South West.

Over the weekend the roads will remain congested because of the 5 million leisure trips planned on Saturday  and 3.4 million on Sunday.

The M1 and M25 will be the most congested with jams of up to 90 and 60 minutes respectively according to data from Inrix. The weekend will see more congestion in the M40, M5 and M6.

RAC patrol of the year Ben Aldous said that traffic jams are pretty much guaranteed from the end of this weekend and while it’s possible to predict where some of these will be.

Every summer they see extra delays caused by broken-down vehicles blocking lanes, leaving drivers faced with hours of frustration.

INRIX transportation analyst Trevor Reed mentioned that record numbers of travellers will hit the road for the start of summer, drivers must be prepared for delays on popular routes.

Travel times will increase throughout the weekend and Friday afternoon will be the worst time to be on the road because commuters will mix with holiday travellers.

After a fuel spill eight miles of the M5 has been closed northbound in Somerset  and the Highways England confirmed that the stretch between junctions 26 and 24 had been closed.

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