Training | 2010.08.27
Millions plan bank holiday trip, despite travel disruption and rain showers
Britons determined to defy weather forecast and escape to coast or country for the last long weekend of the summer
Latest weather forecasts for the bank holiday weekend
The final bank holiday weekend of the summer will see millions of Britons taking to the roads from tonight.
Despite a dreary weather forecast, huge numbers will brave traffic jams and roadworks to escape to the country or coast.
Almost 29 million Britons are expected to take a car journey of more than an hour over the long weekend, with one in five travelling for more than four hours.
Seventeen music festivals will add to the congestion. Reading and Leeds festivals are each likely to attract 70,000 music fans while Creamfields in Daresbury, Cheshire, is expected to be attended by 40,000.
Likely congestion hotspots include all the motorways encircling London, the M6 in the Midlands and north-west, the M1 in the East Midlands and the A1 in Yorkshire. Routes to the West Country, Dorset, the Lake District and Blackpool are all expected to be deluged with traffic.
A poll by esure car insurance forecasts an average delay of one hour 24 minutes.
Up to 25% of intending travellers will take today off work to avoid the queues.
Mike Pickard from esure said travel delays were standard fare for bank holidays, "but this week we\'re facing a perfect storm for delays on the road".
He urged motorists to check their vehicles and take food, water, maps and mobile phone in case of breakdowns. He said although driving through the night was an effective way of avoiding traffic, "this can also be a Russian roulette with tiredness".
The RAC said that major routes were likely to start getting particularly busy early this afternoon, with Monday evening and Tuesday morning also expected to be busy.
Rail engineering work between Wolverhampton and Stafford will affect services run by Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry, London Midland and Virgin, with buses replacing trains on some sections of the west coast mainline.
First Capital Connect trains will also be disrupted by work between New Barnet and Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. Buses will replace South West Trains\' services between Ascot, Berkshire, and Aldershot, Hampshire.
In London, tube travellers also face disruption, with upgrading work causing a shutdown of the Victoria line on Saturday and Sunday.
Weather forecasters say the weekend will feature outbreaks of rain across much of England and Wales – but slightly drier conditions are expected by the middle of next week.
But with many schools not returning until the week beginning 6 September, the more staggered return should ease the pressure on the roads.
Many people are planning to escape the UK\'s gloom, with Heathrow set to handle 840,000 passengers. Among the most popular destinations are New York, Dubai, Paris and Dublin.
About 285,000 travellers are expected to pass through Manchester airport during the same period.
Meanwhile several people were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries following a motorway pile-up involving eight vehicles, emergency services said.
The accident occurred on the northbound carriageway of the M5 at Cullompton, near Exeter, Devon, shortly before 9pm yesterday.
The road was closed in both directions as firefighters cut people from the wreckage.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue sent six appliances to the scene. On arrival emergency workers found that a number of people remained trapped in their vehicles.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/26/bank-holiday-weekend-travel-weather
