Travel warning issued as 18 million road journeys are expected this bank holiday weekend

Travel warnings have been issued as millions of people prepare to journey across the UK this bank holiday weekend.

With the three-day weekend upon us, and people nationwide preparing to make the journey to visit family or friends on their extra day off work or school, the RAC has now issued one of its annual travel warnings – anticipating that 18 million people could be hitting the roads from this Friday evening onwards.

It’s all according to a new study of drivers’ late May bank holiday getaway plans carried out by the RAC and traffic analytics specialists INRIX.

There’s warnings of a potential ‘double dose of delays’ on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 May when the highest number of leisure trips are projected to be made by car – a total of 3.4 million on both days, respectively.

That figure drops slightly to 2.7 million on Sunday 25, before 3 million hit the roads on bank holiday Monday (26 May) for the start of half term.

To make matters even worse, an additional 5.4 million getaway journeys may take place at some point throughout the bank holiday weekend too, but at this point, drivers planning these trips are still unsure exactly when they’ll travel.

With most getaway trips due to begin before lunchtime, the research suggests the best times to hit the road will either be very early in the morning or later into the evening – with the majority (68%) of drivers saying they’ll be heading off at some point between 5am and 12pm, 14% planning to leave between 5am and 8am, nearly a third (30%) intending to travel mid-morning between 8am and 10am, and a further quarter (24%) setting off later between 10am and 12pm. 

Traffic is expected to ease off rather significantly later in the day though, so if you are in a position to leave your journeys until the evening, then the RAC is advising that you take that option, as apparently on 3% of motorists say they are planning to do that so far.

“Our research shows it really is best to leave as early or late as possible this bank holiday weekend, as the majority of motorists are planning to set off in the morning,” commented RAC Mobile Mechanic, Aaron Bryan, ahead of the bank holiday weekend.

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Shaun Jones, AA Patrol of the Year, also added on a similar note: “With the upcoming bank holiday, we anticipate a significant increase in traffic.

“We advise all drivers to plan their journeys in advance and stay updated with congestion and roadworks.”

Featured Image – Geograph