UK: Planning holiday road trip? 21 million vehicles on road in this Christmas

Thursday, December 21, 2023

The United Kingdom’s roads are expected to be congested with a great deal of activity and significant traffic, and drivers have been warned. According to RAC and INRIX, there will be heavy traffic on the roads on Christmas Eve and over the joyous vacation.

According to traffic specialists, this year’s roadways will see higher traffic than in previous years, with about 60% of pre-Christmas travel occurring in the three days leading up to December 25.

This year, Christmas will fall on Monday, and studies show that leisure traffic levels will grow in the preceding week. Thus, it will increase from 2.2 meters on Thursday, December 21, to 3.2 meters on Friday, December 22, a huge 43% spike. The period covering Friday, December 22nd, and Christmas Eve is expected to see the most leisure journeys by car, though—an estimated 13.5 million this year, up 20% from the same period last year.

The M5 around Bristol, the M60 around Manchester, the M6 between Lancashire and Birmingham, and the M4 in south Wales and around Bristol to London are among the busiest routes during Christmas.

AA president Edmund King told the media that the 22^nd and 23^rd of December will be the busiest days for traveling. These days will fall on Friday and Saturday, respectively. In addition to this, the unsettling weather forecast can further contribute to additional delays.

While INRIX, the location-based data analytics company, predicts that roads will experience heavy traffic between 12:00 GMT and 14:00 relating to the Christmas getaway, However, motorists have urged the avoidance of lunchtime journeys and to either travel before 11:00 or after 18:00 on Friday or Saturday.

Paddington happens to be one of the four major London railway stations that will consequently be affected by station as well as line closures for the time over the festive period. Passengers who will be using Victoria, Kings Cross, and Heathrow Airport could be impacted.

The majority of the inter-city bus network’s Sunday services, including those related to Wales’ TrawsCymru, will terminate early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. On some days, though, there will be no bus service at all.

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