Travel chaos and storms… yes, it’s a Bank Holiday

MILLIONS face travel chaos as the May Bank Holiday getaway is hit by roadworks and cancelled trains amid heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Engineering work on major rail routes is expected to lead to more than 14.5 million cars hitting the roads over the weekend.

But huge numbers of motorists could then find themselves in jams as more than 130 highways are affected by roadworks.

To add to the misery, forecasters have warned of a soggy break – with rain spreading from the West today, thunderstorms in the South tomorrow and mist and showers on Monday.

The rail works follow the chaos on Thursday when thousands were stranded at Clapham Junction and the fiasco at Christmas caused by overruning repair works. But bosses insist this weekend is the best time to carry out engineering work, despite cancellations, delays and replacement bus services.

Highways England said it did not plan to cancel any planned roadworks over the weekend and did not consider the Bank Holiday as a ‘busy time’. Traffic forecaster INRIX said drivers should brace themselves today as roadworks will cause delays of up to 90 minutes. The longest jams will be on the M6 in Birmingham, the M1 in Bedfordshire and M40 in Oxfordshire.

Rail passengers face more disruption as Network Rail launches a huge programme of engineering work, with major London stations including Waterloo among the worst affected. It apologised for the inconvenience but insisted work had been timed to coincide with a ‘quieter period’ to minimise disruption.