Traffic on the M25 has come to a near standstill leaving August bank holiday drivers suffering.
Huge queues are stretching back at the Dartford Crossing where the M20 and M25 meets the A282.
Congestion is tailing back almost six miles from the Dartford Tunnel to junction three at Swanley, while several other areas of the motorway network are slow-moving.
Charlotte Woollven, who is stuck in the gridlock, said on X: ‘Traffic crawling for miles on the approach to the Dartford Crossing. I guess this is just the norm now?’
Motorists across the UK have been warned they will face severe congestion on major roads with traffic jams highly likely.
The M5 near Bristol is also experiencing delays of up to 50 minutes for those heading south-west.
Chaos on the roads will only be further impacted by the grim weather, with a Met Office warning for rain in place across parts of the country today.
M4 Severn Bridge to be shut for emergency roadworks
The Prince of Wales Bridge on the M4, also known as the Severn Bridge, is set to be closed overnight, National Highways has confirmed.
It will be shut between midnight and 3am for ’emergency roadworks’.
Dartford Crossing traffic still slow moving
It’s still slow going through the Dartford Crossing this afternoon.
Congestion has eased ever so slightly compared to a few hours ago, but traffic is still queuing back towards junction 2 heading anti-clockwise through the tunnels.
Petrol station on one of UK’s busiest holiday roads is also one of the cheapest places to fill up
AA’s study also found that a petrol station on one of the UK’s busiest holiday roads – the A303 near Stonehenge – will be offering fuel for less than 140p a litre – the first time that this has happened this summer.
Data supplied to the Competition and Markets Authority shows that petrol at the Solstice service area is selling petrol for 40p less than at most motorway service stations at 138.7p per litre.
Between July 16 and August 19, the average UK pump prices have fallen from 145p and 150p for a litre of petrol and diesel respectively to 142p and 147p respectively.
Three-quarters of drivers expected to travel under 50 miles this bank holiday
Many drivers are expected to remain close to home this bank holiday weekend, avoiding the usually busy traffic.
A new survey of 11,235 people conducted by the AA found that while over 14 million drivers were expected to be travelling on the busiest day of the long weekend – yesterday – three-quarters of those heading out on the roads will be travelling under 50 miles, with only just over 10 per cent expected to get behind the wheel for up to 100 miles.
The quietest day, meanwhile, is predicted to be tomorrow, though still over a third of drivers will be out on the roads.
However, a third of drivers don’t expect to travel on any of the days across the bank holiday weekend.
Of those that are planning to head out on to the roads, just seven per cent are thinking of travelling to the coast while just under 10 per cent will be enjoying a long weekend away from home.
M25 traffic cameras show congestion at Dartford Tunnel
These motorway camera images are a tad grainy – but they still show the heavy traffic on the M25 upon the approach to the Dartford Crossing.
Slow-moving on a wet, miserable bank holiday weekend.
As we mentioned, it’s still taking around 40 minutes to travel less than six miles through the Dartford Tunnel.
Widespread congestion on M25
Multiple stretches of the M25 network are being hit by delays this afternoon. Here’s a quick look at the areas affected:
- A282 Dartford Tunnel northbound – congestion
- M25 junction 2 anti-clockwise – congestion
- M25 junction 5 clockwise near M26 – congestion
- M25 junction 7 anti-clockwise – congestion
- M25 junction 13 clockwise – broken down vehicle, one lane closed
- M25 junction 22-23 clockwise – congestion
Heavy M25 traffic ‘crawling for miles’ at Dartford Crossing
Queues are tailing back more than six miles at the Dartford Crossing.
It’s taking around 40 minutes to get through according to Google Maps.
Huge crowds at King’s Cross station in London for bank holiday getaway
The bank holiday getaway is in full swing today.
This image shows just how busy things are at King’s Cross station in London as passengers look to travel near, far and wide.
Travellers are being disrupted by a planned closure on the Waterloo & City line, a part closure on the Piccadilly line and a number of suspensions on the London Overground.
DLR trains are also operating a reduced service today.
A303 crash causes long delays heading towards south west
There are more delays heading south west this morning after a crash on the A303.
According to National Highways, the smash has happened on the westbound carriageway of the major road between the junctions for the A371 and A359.
Delays aren’t expected to clear until around 3pm today.
‘Take extra care if travelling,’ warns Met Office
The Met Office has warned people to ‘take extra care’ if you’re travelling today.
Forecasters have said surface water flooding is possible in some areas as a brutal weather front batters the UK.
Road users in the south east in particular need to be on alert with heavy rain coming down until at least the mid-afternoon.
Cameras show M5 traffic jam near Bristol
This is the picture right now on the M5 near Bristol heading towards the south-west.
Devon and Cornwall are two of the most popular destinations for the summer bank holiday weekend and it must feel like most of the country is trying to get there right now.
Motorway cameras between junctions 15 and 16 show just how slow moving things are.
National Highways says there are still delays of 50 minutes and warned disruption is likely to last well into the afternoon until at least 12.45pm.
M5 near Bristol hit by 50-minute delays
Traffic experts warned the M5 was likely to be slow-moving this bank holiday weekend – and they’re not wrong.
The major motorway route connecting Birmingham and the south-west is facing long delays this morning.
Drivers are being held up by around 50 minutes near Bristol on a stretch of the road between junctions 15 and 20 heading southbound, according to National Highways.
A spokesperson for traffic specialists Inrix previously advised drivers to avoid travelling between 12pm and 5pm today.
Major engineering work on UK rail lines
Network Rail is carrying out widespread engineering works across the bank holiday weekend.
According to National Rail, the ‘biggest, most disruptive’ work will be as follows:
London Kings Cross: On Sunday, August 25, train services on the East Coast Main Line to and from London Kings Cross will be significantly amended, with replacement buses operating, and some services not running at all. This work will also affect late Saturday night and early Monday morning journeys.
London Euston: For most of the weekend, a reduced and amended service will be operated by the train companies running on the West Coast Main Line to and from London Euston. Longer distance journeys, and local travel plans, may also be affected by work taking place in the Stoke-on-Trent / Macclesfield area.
Will the weather affect your journey today?
It’s a bit of double whammy this weekend with the bank holiday coinciding with the lovely Storm Lilian.
What would already be a chaotic couple of days on the roads has been made just that little bit more difficult by the grim weather.
Parts of London and the south east in particular are bearing the brunt of the rain with a Met Office warning in plance.
Liam Eslick, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: ‘With that yellow warning, expect some small travel disruption.
‘I know it’s the start of the bank holiday so people may be out and about trying to get to their holiday destinations.
‘We do say take care when driving on roads, stick to the main roads where you can because more local tracks could see some surface water.
‘So do take care when travelling around through Saturday morning.’
Met Office warns drivers of ‘very wet’ conditions today
The worst times for traffic jams on August bank holiday weekend
Saturday is set to be as busy as it gets on the roads this August bank holiday weekend.
Transport analytics company Inrix has warned the worst times for traffic jams are likely to be between 10am and 1pm today.
It’s certainly worth checking ahead before you travel to plot out the path of least resistance when it comes to congestion.
The RAC estimates 19.2 million leisure trips by car will be made over the weekend.
That’s the highest since the motoring services company began recording data for the summer bank holiday in 2015.
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