Frantic Friday for millions as getaway foiled
BRITONS driving home for Christmas on “Frantic Friday” suffered traffic misery yesterday as persistent rain and 2.8 million more cars brought some motorways to a standstill.
Drivers had been warned to expect queues of at least 90 minutes along major routes on the busiest day of driving before the holidays.
The state of the roads hit millions of families embarking on their getaways after disruptions also hit rail and air travel with drone chaos at Gatwick, Britain’s second busiest airport.
The weather did not help drivers with blustering high winds and rainfall widespread.
Pile-up
In response, Highways England lifted more than 200 miles of roadworks by 6am to ensure 97 per cent of the network was open.
An AA poll suggested 59 per cent of all UK drivers took to main roads yesterday.
Motorists were told to defer journeys until after 7.30pm as delays of up to nearly two hours were expected on popular routes.
The M25, M6 and M40 were the worst traffic hotspots, according to research by the RAC and transport data firm Inrix.
Those hoping to spend the early part of the festive period with friends and family hit logjams. There were delays of around two hours for drivers stuck on the southbound M40 from the M42 in Warwickshire.
In Greater Manchester, a major crash at 9am saw five people injured in a four-vehicle pile-up on the M60 near Stretford.
Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the collision near junction seven, and Highways England