Motorists warned to beware of road chaos

MOTORISTS ARE being warned to expect severe delays as more than 14m cars take to UK roads for leisure trips during the August bank holiday weekend.

Some journeys will take almost four times longer than normal as people embark on getaways to make the most of the last long weekend before the festive period.

The RAC said its research suggests 11.2m people have planned a car journey for a day trip or extended break between Thursday and bank holiday Monday, while a further 3.2m intend to drive during the period but are undecided on which day.

Highways England is lifting or completing more than 300 miles of roadworks from motorways and major A roads from Friday morning. The busiest times on the road for getaway trips are expected to be on Friday and Saturday, with 3.6 million cars on both days.

Traffic information supplier Inrix predicted that the most delayed route will be the M5 from Junction 4 to Junction 1 in the West Midlands between 1pm and 6pm on Friday, when journeys with a typical travel time of 21 minutes could take an extra hour.

On Saturday the M1 is predicted to be badly affected from Junction 22 to Junction 25 in the East Midlands, with journey times increasing from 16 minutes to 62 minutes. RAC traffic spokesman Rod Dennis said the August bank holiday has “huge potential to bring gridlock to major roads”.