19 Million Journeys, 3,000 Flights: UK to See Huge Surge in Traffic Over Bank Holiday Weekend

UK is likely to see heavy traffic on roads and busy flight schedule from Friday as the half-term holiday for many schools begins in Britain this month.

Around 19 million leisure journeys by car are expected on Britain’s roads in the next four days and more than 3,000 planes are scheduled to take off on Friday, a report in The Guardian said.

The Royal Automobile Club (RAC), a breakdown provider, said that it is preparing for the busiest weekend for motoring since 2019 and added that the traffic is likely to peak on Friday when leisure trips and commuting coincide.

A survey of 2,138 drivers for the RAC suggested that 19.2 million leisure car trips will take place across the UK between Friday and Monday.

The report said that the huge surge would be see on UK roads as the half-term break for most schools in the UK and three-day weekend will coincide while the weather is also expected to be fine over the weekend.

The worst traffic is expected on Friday, when people will embark on bank holiday getaways from the afternoon. Severe delays are expected on the M25, the M5 in Somerset and M6 in Cheshire.

“With the travel restrictions imposed during Covid now thankfully a distant memory, it’s clear drivers’ desire to get away has been reignited, with our figures for this coming weekend suggesting leisure traffic volumes will be close to what we last saw in 2019,” RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis said.

Most services across England are likely to be halted when motorists would be out, with severe disruption from Friday.

Heathrow airport vowed that passengers would not experience any disruption in the next three days of strikes that started on Thursday. More than 3,000 planes will take off from UK airports on Friday, the highest daily departures since December 2019.

Dublin, Amsterdam, Palma, Málaga and Alicante are believed to be the most popular destinations, the report added.