Christmas day Travel Trends U.K. 2018 – as Christmas wave sweeps through roads, airlines

Monday, December 24, 2018

Whether it is trip within the country or away from home, travel in U.K. would be the busiest during the festive season as per AA, riding on the waves of spiralling Christmas spirit.

Embark on the Christmas trip early, as half of all the drivers will hit the main roads on Christmas Eve in U.K.

The busiest time is expected to be between 11:00 and 13:00 GMT – with the likely hotspots M1 in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

More than 13 million Brits are planning an overnight trip in the U.K. during the Christmas and New Year period as per VisitEngland’s Christmas Trip Tracker Survey. Popular seasonal activities that the Brits have planned include going out for a meal (43 per cent) shopping at post-Christmas sales (37 per cent) and visiting a Christmas market (31 per cent).

The biggest ever Network Rail upgrade project by GWR during the festive period will reduce travel by rail – pushing more Christmas travel on the roads. The stretch of the M1 northbound between junction 21 (Coventry/Leicester) and junction 26 (Nottingham/Ripley) is expected to be the busiest. The M25, M5, M6 and M40 are also likely to see slow movement of vehicles.

Majority of these journeys would be leisure based – about 2.5 million in total.

The Gatwick Airport is expecting to welcome 2.9 million passengers, and it is ready to embrace the festive deluge after temporary shutdown owing to drone sightings.

As per the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), more than 4.7 million people will be visiting abroad between Dec. 18 and Jan. 2. The top trending long-haul destination for U.K. travellers is Miami,  Mumbai, Cancun, Dubai, and Orlando according to ForwardKeys survey.

As per the RAC the number of leisure journeys over the festive season will reach the peak on the Boxing Day with 6.8 million individual trips expected.

There are travel warning by U.K. for Christmas markets across Europe. However, these cannot blight the scintillating spirit of Christmas in U.K.

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas!

« Back to Page

• Sullenberger Aviation Museum Set to Open Its Doors on June 1st

• Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks expand offerings with Gdansk Christmas Market

• Mochitsuki Festival highlights Christmas in The Marianas, Dec 30

• Get enticed with an open bus tour in London during Christmas

• UK afflicted with yellow weather warnings post Christmas