22m planned leisure trips to cause traffic jams and rail closures during bank holiday

Friday, May 24, 2019

This weekend’s bank holiday getaway will be severely hampered by severe traffic congestion and according to an RAC survey 22m leisure trips have been planned between Friday and Monday, which will lead to “some extensive jams”.

From last year’s May bank holiday weekend this was 8m more. The weekend might start off dry and bright according to the forecasters before turning cooler. As per the RAC’s survey of 1,709 UK drivers getaways are expected to peak on Saturday

This is 8m more trips than the late May bank holiday weekend last year and is the most since the RAC began asking drivers about their bank holiday travel plans.

Forecasters expect the weekend to start off dry and bright in most regions before turning cooler. Getaways are expected to peak on Saturday with 6.6mtrips, according to the RAC’s survey of 1,709 UK drivers.

Between 10am and 3pm on Saturday major roads will remain busiest and motorist were advised to set off early and evade congestion.

On the routes leading to the coast and national parks one can expect the worst traffic.

Before weekend Highways England will be removing more than 1,100km (700 miles) of roadworks. Due to this 97% of motorways and major A-roads in England will be free of cones.

According to Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist Chris Bulmer said that at the moment, Saturday looks to be one of the better days of the weekend with the promise of sunshine for most expect Sunday to be cloudier with outbreaks of rain moving in from the west.

Rain and cloud should clear by Monday and will return to sunny spells and odd shower in places giving cooler feel across the country in fresh westerly breeze.

Ben Aldous, the RAC’s patrol of the year, said that when warmer weather coincides with traffic jams, it’s particularly important that every driver is confident their car can keep its cool to avoid a breakdown.

It was strongly recommend to lift the bonnet to check the coolant is at the right level, and if it’s not, to either top up or visit a good local garage to get it checked out.

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