AA issues amber warning as 17 million cars to join Christmas exodus
The AA has issued an amber warning for 23 and 24 December as 17 million drivers are expected to join the Christmas exodus.
Routes linked to the M25 will carry most of the traffic – in particular interchanges connecting the M25 with the M3, M4, M1, M11, M20 and A1(M).
Congestion – which will also affect the north with bottlenecks expected on the M8 near Edinburgh and the M6 near Birmingham – is predicted to build between 10am and 6pm on Friday and 10am to 4pm on Saturday.
According to Jack Cousens, head of road policy at the AA, disruption on the rail network has worsened the situation.
“The rail strikes have convinced more people to travel by car this year, and while hundreds of miles of roadworks have been removed to ease the pain, it might not be enough to keep the queues away,” he said.
Motorists should also be aware that members of the union PCS working for National Highways will walk out between 16 December and 4 January.
It comes as National Highways last week decided to lift over 900 miles of planned roadworks to help Britons get around.
The government-owned company will remove roadworks from 6am on 20 December to 12am on 3 January.