'Pre-Christmas panic' on roads as millions set to drive home for holiday season
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Millions of drivers will start their holiday journeys from today, with motor agencies warning of a "pre-Christmas panic" on the roads and record levels of traffic. Data from the RAC and travel analytics company INRIX estimates 29.3m journeys will be made by motorists in the run-up to Christmas Day. About half of these - at 14.3m - are set to be made over the weekend.
After some 5.7 million journeys on Wednesday and Thursday, the RAC said today will be "frantic Friday" on the roads and an expected 3 million trips. In a bid "to help make journeys smoother", National Highways customer service director Andrew Butterfield said the agency will remove roadworks on 95% of the roads they manage.
Meanwhile, the AA has issued several amber traffic warnings and says a record 23.7 million drivers are expected to make journeys today. Data from an AA survey has claimed most drivers are staying local and travelling less than 50 miles over the holidays, but that Friday will still be the busiest day of Christmas driving since their records began in 2010.
The next busiest days are expected to be 21 and 23 December, with 22.7 million of drivers on the roads. William and Kate miss Royal Family's traditional pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace. No white Christmas, say forecasters, as Met Office releases weather prediction for 25 December.
Christmas UK weather forecast revealed - with snow possible in some areas. Friday afternoon worst time to drive. According to IINRIX data, traffic jams are set to strike on many of England's motorways, with delays of more than 45 minutes likely in the evening on the M3 in Surrey and Hampshire between the M25 in west London and the south coast, and on the M25 anticlockwise from the junction with the M1 near Watford to the M23 for Gatwick Airport.
