Christmas getaway 2019: Where and when to avoid on roads and rail

Drivers are being warned to expect long tailbacks on the UK's busiest roads as millions of people travel for Christmas

The RAC and AA motoring groups have warned sections of the M1, M5, M6 and M25 are likely to see heavy delays.

Highways England said 98% of roadworks on motorways and major A-roads had been lifted or completed by 06:00 GMT on Friday.

Rail passengers have been advised to plan ahead due to engineering works and strikes.

Friday is expected to be the busiest day for people going abroad for Christmas, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta).

It said the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Morocco, Turkey and Egypt were popular short-haul destinations while the long-haul market had seen high demand for Dubai and Goa.

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said people should leave extra time to get to airports because the roads would be busy.

The RAC and traffic data company Inrix estimated about 4.7 million "leisure" journeys would be made by car on Friday and warned of delays as Christmas traffic mixes with commuters.

Ben Aldous from the RAC said: "While Christmas Day is still a little way off, it looks as though millions of drivers are planning to complete their getaway trips this week.

"Unfortunately, when you add in the prospect of unsettled weather, with heavy rain and strong winds in some parts, these are likely to be pretty unpleasant drives for many of us."

Inrix has also predicted places likely to have some of the longest delays, based on analysis of traffic flows during previous Christmas getaways, as well as things like planned roadworks and events.

The M1 between Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire is expected to be heavily congested on Saturday and Sunday, along with the northern and western sections of the M25 around London.

Delays of up to an hour are also possible from Friday morning on the M6 between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, Inrix warned.

The AA said it expected traffic to reach a peak on Friday after 16:00, with the M5 between Bristol and Weston-Super-Mare likely to see hold-ups.

Highways England said it would remove 98% of its roadworks by Friday morning, freeing up more than 800 miles of motorways and major roads, but that the rest would have to stay in place for safety reasons.

The longest stretch of roadworks to remain in place is 43 miles on the M4 between junction six, near Slough, and junction 12 near Reading. The work is part of the £848 million smart motorways project to open the hard shoulder to traffic.

Other smart motorway roadworks staying in place include 20 miles of the M62 near Manchester and 19 miles of the M6 near Stafford.

There is more information on the Highways England website and also at Traffic Scotland, Traffic Wales and Trafficwatch Northern Ireland.

No trains run on Christmas Day, 25 December, and it is normal for only a few to run on 26 December.

Network Rail is working on 386 engineering projects between Friday and 2 January.

Most lines will remain open as normal but London Paddington station will be closed from Tuesday, Christmas Eve, until Friday 27 December, with no trains running.

Changes to services include:

Services on South Western Railway (SWR) are affected by strike action until Thursday 2 January.

The operator is running a reduced timetable, warning peak services are likely to be busier than normal and replacement buses on some routes.

A spokesman for SWR said an alternative timetable would be in place for the week starting 23 December.

The strikes may mean Great Western Railway services are busier than normal as SWR passengers use them as an alternative.

The dispute between SWR and the RMT union is over the role of guards on trains.

Planned strike action on West Midlands Trains on Saturdays in December was called off.