Urgent M25, M3 and M5 Easter travel warning as 14m Brits set to hit the roads this weekend

There’s likely to be a huge number of cars on the motorways this weekend

The Easter Bank Holiday could be a nightmare on the roads as drivers face one of the busiest weekends in recent year.

The RAC has warned that journey times could be twice as long on some routes, with over 14 million trips expected the entire Easter weekend. This is because the Bank Holiday weekend falls at the same time as many schools break up for two weeks, causing a huge increase in traffic.

Train travel will also be hit, with Network Rail carrying out engineering work. This means the southern section of the West Coast main line will be closed from Good Friday to Easter Monday. VisitEngland, the tourist board, says around 11 million people in the UK are planning an overnight Easter trip. This could give the economy a £3.2billion boost.

The RAC and transport analysis company Inrix carried out a survey which suggested 2.6 million leisure journeys by car will be made on Good Friday alone, reports the Express. Around 2.3 million getaways are planned for each of Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, with two million expected to take place on both Thursday (March 28) and Easter Monday.

A further 3.3 million Easter leisure journeys have been planned by drivers who are undecided exactly which day they will travel. This means there could be about 14.5 million getaway trips between Thursday and Easter Monday. Drivers heading to the West Country on the M5 and A303, the Lake District and the south coast this Easter are braced for “carmageddon” due to a predicted traffic surge, experts warned.

The worst congestion is expected to hit the M25 on Thursday between 2pm and 7pm, as commuters and leisure trippers compete for road space, with journeys on sections taking up to two hours, more than double the usual travel time. Good Friday will be the next worst day for jams between 11am and 3pm as holidaymakers set off, so experts are urging drivers to travel before or after this period.

The M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton as well as the M3 between the M25 and the south coast are also set to see lengthy tailbacks with journey times more than double the normal length, according to the RAC. RAC Breakdown spokeswoman Alice Simpson said: “With Easter falling earlier than usual at the start of the school holidays, it could be carmageddon for holidaymakers.”

“Anyone who can delay leaving on Thursday until much later in the evening or set off as early as possible on Good Friday is likely to have a better journey than those who travel during the peak periods of the day. Lengthy queues can be expected along routes to the usual hotspots like the West Country, the Lake District and the south coast, especially during the middle of the day when most people make trips.”

Bob Pishue from Inrix, a transport analyst, has said that the busiest travel times will be on Thursday and Friday afternoons. But he warns that all weekend journeys might take longer than usual. He said: “To avoid the longest delays, we advise adjusting departure times so you’re not travelling in peak commuter hours.”

The AA is telling drivers to make sure their cars are ready for Easter trips. Chris Wood, AA patrol of the year, shared: “Easter is the first opportunity many people have to go and see their family and we’re expecting the roads to be busy. Before setting off on a long journey it’s important to check your car. Take 10 minutes to check your oil, coolant and windscreen wash levels.”

Network Rail is asking everyone taking trains to double-check their travel plans because some big train routes will be closed for repairs. From Good Friday, the Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes will be closed for four days. There will be other problems near Glasgow and Huddersfield too.

Laurence Bowman, who works on Network Rail’s strategy, said: “We know how important Easter is for families and friends to catch up, and we try to keep as much of the network open as possible. There’s never a good time to do the work we need to do but the four days of the bank holiday, when fewer people are travelling, give us the opportunity to do major work we couldn’t do in normal weekend.

“We’ve got 493 different pieces of work taking place this Easter, most happening overnight, including laying over 8,000 metres of new rail and putting down over 40,000 tonnes of new ballast to support the tracks.”

Patricia Yates, the boss of VisitEngland, said that tourism businesses and destinations are hoping for a busy Easter weekend to bring in some much-needed money after a tough winter. The RAC and Inrix survey of 2,136 UK adults was carried out by research company Find Out Now last week.