RAC warns drivers against end of week getaway to avoid Christmas traffic

Motorists are advised to avoid making their festive getaway on Friday because of a potentially chaotic combination of people driving home for Christmas, shoppers and last-day commuters on the roads.

The RAC says there will be up to 1.25 million leisure journeys on top of people driving for work on 22 December.

Last year’s peak was at about 5pm on the Friday before Christmas (22 December), when there were more than 300 traffic jams, according to the transportation analytics company Inrix. There are fears there could be similar buildups this year, on what the RAC has dubbed “frantic Friday”.

Inrix says the worst traffic jam on the equivalent Friday last year was a five-hour tailback on a 10-mile stretch of the A5 southbound from the junction with the M1, although that was as a result of an accident. It is predicting that the M1 in England, the M1 in Northern Ireland and the A720 eastbound in Scotland are likely to have the biggest queues this year.

The RAC’s traffic spokesman Rod Dennis said: “It only takes a single accident or breakdown in some locations to bring traffic grinding to a halt. As always, the message to drivers is to plan ahead and try to avoid peak times if you can. Depending on where you live in the UK, schools have been breaking up since Friday 15 December so if you have a chance to complete your journey sooner than the end of next week then it might be a good idea to do that.”

Highways England has announced that 99% of England’s motorways and major A-roads will be free of roadworks during the busy festive run-in but it will not be enough to alleviate congestion.

Holiday traffic is expected to begin from Wednesday, with the worst delays forecast at over four hours. A Populus poll of 18,547 AA members found that 40% – which translates to around 13 million drivers across the population – expect to drive over 20 miles on Friday. It also found that many intend to leave their shopping till the last minute, with 17% of respondents driving over 20 miles for a shopping trip on Saturday, making it the busiest day for shopping traffic.

Vince Crane, of the AA, said: “With Christmas falling on a Monday, many drivers may hope that journeys would be spread across the weekend, but it means more days of traffic as the getaway from work on Friday is followed by the last major shopping opportunity on Saturday and visits to friends and family on Sunday.”

He added: “On Friday, it’s likely to be very busy at peak times on the major routes. Check the traffic reports before you leave and try to travel when it’s quieter or, if you have no choice, consider an alternative route to beat the jams.”

The RAC is predicting 1.87 million separate leisure journeys on Christmas Eve, with the period between 10am and 2pm expected to be the busiest as families and friends make last-minute dashes.

After a Christmas Day lull, many people are expected to get back on the roads from Boxing Day onwards to visit relatives, shop in the sales or go to football matches.

There is some good news for drivers in that they are unlikely to have to contend with snow but, depending on when they are travelling, they could still face tricky conditions.

The early part of the week could see fog in some parts of the country and then from Friday onwards there could be changeable conditions with patchy wet and windy weather up until Christmas Day, according to the Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts.

She said: “Monday night/Tuesday morning we are expecting to see fog. That could cause disruption to airports and other travel networks. We haven’t issued a weather warning yet but we will be keeping an eye on it and it’s quite possible one could be issued.”