Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues across the UK, as millions are set to take to roads over the extended Christmas weekend.
With the festive season generally known to make roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with a study of 2,100 drivers by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 21 million journeys are planned before Christmas Eve arrives.
With Christmas falling on a Monday this year, figures show that leisure traffic levels will climb slowly this week, before it jumps by a whopping 43% from 2.2 million journeys on Thursday 21, to 3.2 million on Friday 22 December.
The period covering Friday 22 and Christmas Eve is expected to see the most leisure journeys by car, according to the RAC – with an estimated 13.5 million this year, up 20% from the same period last year.
While Christmas Eve getaways match what’s been dubbed ‘Frantic Friday’ trips at 3.2 million, the reality is Friday will be “far busier”, the RAC warns, as those heading off for festivities share the roads with commuters and parents collecting the kids from school.
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Drivers told to prepare for ‘busy roads’ as 21 million journeys are expected over Christmas weekend / Credit: The AA | iStockphoto
Roads will also be busy on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as you’d probably expect.
RAC and INRIX figures show that an average of 3.5 million trips are expected on these two days, but any travel experts say serious delays should be “less of a risk without the normal mix of commercial, commuter, and school traffic”.
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So, what kinds of delays are we talking then? And which motorways across the UK should motorists be most expecting to come up against traffic and long queues?
Well, data from transport analytics specialists indicates that there are likely to be daily delays of around 40 minutes between Friday 22 and Christmas Eve on the M25 clockwise west of Greater London, while the worst queues – which could be up to an hour – is expected along the M25 clockwise between the M23 for Gatwick, and the M40 for Birmingham on the Saturday 23 December.
One Greater Manchester motorway has been identified as a ‘festive getaway’ hotspot / Credit – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)
Looking further afield, the M1 north between Woburn to Daventry, and the M6 south from Wigan to Stafford, is predicted to be “hit the hardest with delays” in the run-up to Christmas Day.
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When it comes to the busiest times of day on the UK’s roads, 12pm to 2pm has been identified as the the most hectic time to travel across most major routes during the pre-Christmas weekend – with both the RAC and INRIX urging drivers to avoid lunchtime journeys.
The best times to travel will be before 11am and after 6pm on both the 22 and 23 December, as this is when it’s hoped drivers will be able to make it home for Christmas with slightly fewer tailbacks.
Featured Image – RAC
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
19th December 2023 
