Drivers Warned to Expect Busiest Easter Weekend on the Roads in Three Years With 19m Trips Expected

Drivers could face a hat-trick of hold-ups as the bank holiday weekend coincides with the end of the Easter holidays for many schools, the RAC has warned.

This year’s Easter bank holiday weekend could be the busiest since 2022 with more than 19m leisure journeys planned, according to a new study of drivers’ getaway plans by the RAC and traffic analytics specialists INRIX.

Good Friday 18th and Saturday 19th April drivers are planning around 2.7m trips every day during that period.

The number of trips planned drops slightly on Easter Sunday to 2.5m, before increasing again to a further 2.7m on bank holiday Monday as millions of people return home – ahead of most school terms beginning the next day.

A further 6.2m journeys are anticipated at some point over the Easter bank holiday weekend, but drivers planning these trips are still unsure exactly when they’ll travel with the notorious British weather likely to be a big factor.

On Good Friday, the lengthiest hold-ups are expected between 11am to 1pm, meaning drivers are advised to start their trips as early as possible in the morning or delay them until later in the afternoon.

RAC breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “The late bank holiday weekend clashes with the end of the Easter break for many schools – which we think will change the nature of this year’s getaway. Although journey numbers are still very high, we’re anticipating more day trips and weekend breaks than people heading off on one and two-week stints, reflected by INRIX’s predictions that the worst delays will be along routes from Gatwick to the rest of the country. This could lead to a ‘hat-trick of hold-ups’ on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as drivers visit family and friends.

“But while getaway journeys may be shorter in length, we’re still expecting to see extremely high levels of traffic from Thursday onwards, with the greatest number of Easter getaway trips planned for three years. Drivers shouldn’t expect to escape the queues if they don’t plan the best time to set off. It’s always best to travel as early as possible in the morning or later in the day when most of the traffic has eased, especially if headed to popular holiday destinations such as the West Country, Scotland or Wales.

Despite the predicted jams and weather set to be cooler than it was last week – the one silver lining for anyone getting away could be lower fuel prices. All the talk of trade tariffs has pushed oil prices down, which should lead to lower petrol and diesel prices at the pumps.

Locally traffic could face congestion and delays on the M6 with the lane closures and Speed limits South of Penrith at Clifton in place through Easter.