‘Worst jams ever’ as record number fly out for bank holiday breaks

RECORD numbers of travellers will be flying out of Britain over the bank holiday weekend as motorists face the worst traffic jams for years.

Orlando is the most popular long-haul destination, with Gatwick and Abta, the travel association, listing it as the number one place.

Abta predicts two million people will head abroad from today for the last bank holiday of the year, 100,000 more than the same time last year.

Mark Tanzer, Abta chief executive, said: “This weekend is the traditional curtain closer for the peak summer months and is always very busy, with millions taking advantage of the long weekend to head off overseas.

“With t he ro a ds expec t e d t o be extremely busy, holidaymakers should make sure they leave plenty of time to get to their port of departure.”

Heathrow expects 248,000 people to fly in and out today alone, with a total of 958,558 people passing through over the four-day period. Stansted expects a total of 300,000 users, and Gatwick predicted a record 622,000, a six per cent rise on last year.

Abta said city breaks were popular, although many families would be heading for Mediterranean resorts, with Spain the top choice.

Gatwick said Malaga, Majorca and Barcelona were among its most popul a r sh or t - haul dest i nat i ons, whil e Orlando, Dubai and Toronto were the top spots for long-haul travellers.

On the roads, Green Flag, the emergency and breakdown service, was expecting 40,000 breakdowns over the weekend, with the most common problems being flat or faulty batteries.

It has launched Green Flag Alert Me, a plug-in unit costing £35 a year which warns drivers of potential faults by monitoring battery and engine man- agement systems. A survey by money saving website Vouchercodespro.co.uk of 2,240 drivers listed the worst cities to drive in as Birmingham, London and Bristol. Drivers cited getting lost, traffic jams and road rage as they reasons they “hate” them.

However, research by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association found that many Londoners would be avoiding public transport this weekend and Gerry Keaney, chief executive, said: “It is encouraging to see that more Londoners plan to rent cars than take the train.”

Transport for London said special arrangements were in place for Notting Hill Carnival on Sunday and Monday and warned that some stations would be very busy, with exit or entry restrictions in force.

Additional buses will serve the carnival but vehicles will not enter the area from the first service on Sunday morning until Tuesday morning.

Network Rail advised passengers to check before they travel, with closures and changes to timetables on many routes for engineering work, with Waterloo particularly affected.

Fo r more i nf o r mati o n, v i s i t ne t - workrail.co.uk/timetables-and-travel/ engineering-works-service-alterations/