May Bank Holiday traffic chaos expected with 18 million trips planned across the UK

With the May Bank Holiday and the start of half term in many parts of the country almost upon us, the RAC is predicting huge numbers of cars on the road this weekend.

Working with transport analyst INRIX, the motoring organisation reckons almost 18 million road trips are being planned for the Bank Holiday weekend, with the worst traffic chaos likely to be on Friday 23 May and Saturday 24, with 3.4 million trips expected to be made by car on both days. 

The number of car trips will dip a little to 2.7 million on Sunday 25 May, before rising again to 3.0 million on Monday 26 May for the Bank Holiday itself. 

On top of these numbers reflecting journeys already planned, the RAC thinks a further 5.4 million journeys will be undertaken on still-to-be-decided dates across the long weekend, with drivers unsure when they’ll hit the road.

If you want to do your best to avoid the other 17,999,999 weekend road-trippers, the RAC advises making a very early start, or waiting for the rush to die down each day. It says that 68 per cent of drivers plan to travel between 5am and mid-day, but the bulk of them expect to leave after 8am. If you leave your journey until after 7pm, you’ll be sharing the roads with just 3 per cent of drivers planning road trips.

As usual, London’s orbital M25 motorway – the UK’s busiest – is expected to suffer some of the worst congestion, and on Friday you can expect delays of 45 minutes around the Dartford Crossing, or around 35 minutes if travelling anti-clockwise in the evening rush hour between Cobham Services and Clacket Lane services in Surrey (Junctions 10 to 6).

The RAC also predicts heavy traffic on major West Country routes, with delays on the A30 towards Okehampton, the M5 near Bridgwater and the A303 at Stonehenge. 

Looking further ahead, drivers returning home after the half-term break on Friday 30 May are also expected to face journey times that are 35 per cent longer.

Of course, it’s not just motorways and A-roads that could cause you grief – and electricity provider OVO has compiled a list of the UK’s 10 most popular Bank Holiday road trip destinations. The Lake District tops its survey in first place, followed by the Peak District in Derbyshire second, and the Jurassic Coast in Dorset third.

Fourth and fifth are the Yorkshire Moors coast and The Cotswolds, with places six to ten occupied by Snowdonia and North Wales, Scotland’s North Coast 500, the South Downs and Sussex Coast, East Anglia coast, and the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. 

OVO’s interest is reminding drivers that most of them would cost less than £3 in electric power on their Charge Anytime domestic rate, but that will be of little comfort to the 63 per cent of road-trippers it says will be relying on gas-guzzlers without a plug.

Are you planning a trip away this May Bank Holiday weekend? Tell us how you avoid the traffic in the comments section below...