Christmas travel chaos: Drivers warned to avoid travelling during the day amid motorway gridlock fears
Traffic queues for ferries at the Port of Dover in Kent (PA Wire) Drivers are being warned to avoid travelling between 11am and 6pm after another day of long queues forcross-Channel journeys, motorway closures and train cancellations[1]. Storm Pia brought havoc to already congested roads and train services[2] on Thursday and disruption continued into Friday.
Rail operators said today was expected to be the busiest day for travellers before Christmas, and the RAC estimated 13.5 million leisure journeys would take place on Britain’s roads this weekend. The motoring group urged drivers to avoid peak hours on the roads over the weekend, with spokesperson Alice Williams saying: “We urge people to set off as early as possible on Saturday and Sunday.” High winds are expected to return on Sunday with gusts of up to 70mph in the north of Scotland and northern and central England.
Two yellow wind warnings have been issued, with widespread travel disruption expected due to damaged buildings and power cuts. Heavy showers are forecast across the UK. Delays are expected at the Port of Dover in Kent[3], blamed on a surge in demand for ferries after the Channel Tunnel rail link was closed on Thursday due to unscheduled industrial action by French workers. Eurostar is operating extra services between London and Paris until tomorrow to help people whose trains were cancelled on Thursday.
Rail disruption on Avanti West Coast due to damage to overhead wires on Thursday eased yesterday, but many operators still experienced problems: no LNER trains served Inverness yesterday morning; ScotRail services were suspended between Inverness and Wick, Tain, Ardgay and Lairg; and Southeastern said it had been forced to cancel a number of trains due to “a shortage of available train crew”. Location technology company TomTom said road congestion in cities across Britain was above normal levels from 3pm yesterday with heavy traffic expected to last throughout the weekend. Likely motorway traffic hotspots over the weekend were expected to be on the M25, the M1 northbound in Bedfordshire and the M6 southbound near Greater Manchester.
National Highways said 98 per cent of England’s motorways and major A roads would remain roadworks-free until January 2.
It said the busiest time to travel this weekend is likely to be between noon and 2pm, urging drivers to avoid lunchtimes and set off early.
References
- ^ long queues forcross-Channel journeys, motorway closures and train cancellations (uk.news.yahoo.com)
- ^ Storm Pia brought havoc to already congested roads and train services (www.standard.co.uk)
- ^ Delays are expected at the Port of Dover in Kent (www.standard.co.uk)