Brits Given Travel Warning As Huge Number Expected To Hit The Roads Over Easter

The Department for Transport has urged Brits to travel today if planning to get away for the upcoming Easter weekend.

As well as UK airports having displaying the scenes of utter chaos, with passengers abandoning their bags amid horrendously long queues, those planning to drive to their weekend getaways are also predicted to face difficulties.

In what is predicted as being the biggest UK springtime getaway since 2019, a total of 27.6 million cars are expected to take to the motorways across the Easter weekend.

Drivers have subsequently been told to try and leave today, 14 April, to avoid getting stuck in traffic.

In order to minimise disruption, the UK's Department for Transport (DfT) has reminded drivers to 'plan your route,' 'check the latest travel information,' and 'allow extra time for your journey'.

It suggested checking the latest travel updates by following National Highways, National Rail Enquiries and flight and ferry service operating social media pages, particularly as 'rail engineering works are taking place' over the weekend.

DfT also revealed National Highways is 'lifting more than 1,200 miles of roadworks across the UK'.

Drivers have been reminded to check their 'tyres, engine oil, water, lights and fuel' ahead of their journey too.

Around 4.62 million trips are planned for Good Friday, which is anticipated as being the busiest day for travel of the Easter weekend, The Sun reports.

The M6 north between Junction 26 and Junction 36, the M25 clockwise from Junction 8 to Junction 16 and the A303 near Stonehenge are expected to be the areas subject to the heaviest congestion.

The inflated cost of petrol is also set to add to driver's frustrations.

Amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, sanctions imposed on the country by the UK - specifically surrounding the importation of oil - could see drivers pay £20 more to fill their cars for a 500-mile round trip.

In the last two weeks, Dover, in Kent, has already seen heavy traffic, with lorry drivers left at a standstill while trying to reach the port.

From Good Friday to Easter Monday, UK airports are expected to see 1.6 million seats across 9,212 flights take off, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm.

Multiple flights have already been cancelled.

President of British motoring association AA, Edmund King, reflected: "All our polling suggests that Good Friday will be the busiest getaway day for Easter trips and staycations.

"If some drivers can leave on Thursday or early Saturday, they may miss some of the jams."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Cars, UK News

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.