Roads chaos alert

UK MOTORISTS have been warned that some journeys could take four times longer in the lead up to Christmas than at other times of the year.

Analysis of the last time Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, in 2011, led traffic information supplier Inrix to predict that 4pm on Friday will be the busiest period on the roads during the festive period.

This is due to the combination of Christmas shoppers, leisure trips and people leaving work. The most delayed routes are expected to be on major motorways.

The average speed in both directions on a 32-mile stretch of the M25 between Junctions 7 and 16 - which runs alongside Heathrow Airport - could fall to as low as 11 mph, Inrix claimed.This will extend journeys that typically take 35 minutes to nearly three hours.

Other routes set to be congested on Friday include the M5 southbound from Junction 14 to Junction 21 in the South West, both ways on the M6 between Junctions 16 and 22 in the North West and the M4 in both directions between Junctions 24 and 32 in South Wales.

December 27 has also been identified as a day when the roads could be jammed, with the volume of traffic rising due to high street sales, people visiting family and friends and those returning home for work on the following day.

Highways England said it will complete or lift 448 miles of roadworks by 6am on December 23 in a bid to ease the Christmas getaway.