Overview
- The RAC estimates about 19 million leisure car trips from Friday to Monday, only slightly below its 2016 record projection.
- Saturday is forecast to be the peak day with more than four million journeys, with queues most likely late morning into lunchtime.
- The worst times to set off are Friday 11am–7pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am–3pm, and Monday 11am–6pm, so early departures are advised.
- Rail options will be thinner due to planned works that close Liverpool Lime Street on Sunday, shut the East Coast Main Line between York and Darlington for three days from Saturday, and close London’s Charing Cross and Waterloo East.
- Congestion hot spots include the M5 southbound from Bristol to Taunton for trips to Devon and Cornwall, and higher fuel costs have deterred only a small share of drivers despite adding about £13 to a petrol fill and £27 to diesel.