BANK Holiday carnage is kicking off today with Storm Lilian wreaking havoc, queues at Dover and millions of day tripspers setting off.
The RAC warned that this August Bank Holiday is set to be the busiest in nine years with an estimated 19.2million leisure trips by car.
Today will see 3.2million journeys, according to research by the motoring group, which warned that drivers are set to go “day trip crazy”.
Storm Lilian is adding to the chaos, with heavy rain and 80mph winds causing flight cancellations and blocked roads.
Gusts will push eastwards this morning – sparking delays on the M6, A66, and A1(M)
Traffic to Leeds Festival will be especially bad along the A1, A1(M), M1, M62 and A64.
Journeys are set to double in length today at lunchtime, along the A1 southbound between the Kirk Deighton and Bramham interchanges, the RAC says.
Meanwhile, anyone not attending the Reading Festival should avoid junction 11 of the M4 eastbound to Reading, M3 junction 6 at the Black Dam interchange and the Wendlebury interchange at junction 9 of the M40.
Festival attendees are advised not to drive to Reading due to the close proximity of the train station to the festival site.
British Airways has already scrapped flights at Heathrow Airport, axing a number of international holiday and domestic flights ahead of the long bank holiday weekend.
BA cancelled eight flights while another five appeared as delayed on the airport departure board and on the airline’s website.
Drivers across the country are also facing long delays as the howling winds of the storm take hold.
Tomorrow is slated to be the busiest on the roads with 3.7million getaways planned, according to the RAC.
Sunday will see 3.1million and Bank Holiday Monday will endure 3million.
A massive 6.2million trips are also planned “at some point” over the weekend, with drivers undecided exactly when they’ll travel.
The RAC’s 19.2m figure represents is the largest number of “getaway” trips predicted for the August Bank Holiday since the group started recording data for this weekend in 2015.
An “overwhelming majority” of journeys will be day trips, with 84% of respondents saying they will be using their car for days out, the RAC said.
People embarking on August Bank Holiday getaways in England and Wales have been warned over not only congestion on major roads – but rail disruption due to engineering work as well.
Transport analytics company Inrix warned the worst times for traffic jams are likely to be between 10am and 6pm on Friday, and between 10am and 1pm on Saturday.
Network Rail will be carrying out a number of major engineering projects, which will affect three intercity lines serving London.
STORM Lilian has wreaked havoc today with heavy rain and 80mph winds causing flight cancellations and blocked roads.
Brits across the country saw their Bank Holiday plans grind to a halt amid travel mayhem as the storm descended.
Powerful gusts were reported to have knocked over a tree in Newington, Kent, which has been left blocking the railway.
As it was careening along the tracks, a train ploughed into the tree and “sustained significant damage”, according to National Rail.
Drivers across the country are also facing long delays as the howling winds of the storm take hold.
A fallen down tree has causing 30 minute delays on the M6 outside Knutsford, Cheshire, after it fell on the carriageway.
Meanwhile, a number of trees were also reported to have fallen in Bradford with parts of the M1 held up by “debris” on the road.
The M48 Severn Bridge has been closed in both directions due to the storm.
Overnight, more than 300 homes in Durham, and an additional 80 homes in Yorkshire, were left without power, with an urgent warning issued for revellers currently partying at Leeds festival.
A weather update on the festival’s dedicated app read: “Over the next 36 hours, strong gusts are expected. Please secure all loose items inside your tents and reinforce your tents with pegs.
“Camping stores on-site are Fat Franks, Charlie’s Camping Shop and Camptastic located in the village. Decathlon is available in the village for tent repair services. Your safety is our priority.”
Three yellow weather warnings are in place across the UK this morning as the storm makes landfall.
A wind warning will cover north Wales, northern England and southern Scotland until 11am.
Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen.
A number of roads and motorways are blocked across Greater Manchester this morning with Metrolink lines suspended amid strong winds brought by Storm Lilian.
Drivers have been urged to take extra care on the roads this morning, with an issue already reported on the M6 motorway.
A tree has fallen across the carriageway on the northbound side between J19 and J20, near the exit for the M56.
Almost all Metrolink lines have been suspended ‘due to the storm bringing down multiple trees across the network’.
The Bee Network said: “Due to severe weather conditions, services are running between Rochdale – Victoria and Airport – Sale Water Park.
“All other lines are currently suspended. Customers can use tickets and passes on any Bee Network services or Stagecoach services. Please check back for updates.”
Airports will also see one of their busiest weekends of the year, with the industry hoping for no repeat of the outage by air traffic control company Nats, which grounded flights on last year’s August bank holiday Monday.
The RAC’s estimation of 19.2 million leisure trips by car is based on a survey of 2,128 UK adults.
National Highways, which manages motorways and major A roads in England, said it will lift more than 500 miles of roadworks by 6am on Friday until Tuesday to “keep people moving”.
It issued an alert for the M56 and M6 in north-west England as up to 70,000 dance music fans head to the four-day Creamfields festival in Cheshire, which starts on Thursday.
Thousands of drivers were stuck for several hours in queues during the event last year.
Motorists are being urged to follow dedicated signs to the site and not rely on sat navs, which could put vehicles on “unsuitable, narrow roads”, National Highways said.
Extra police and traffic officers will be deployed around junction 11 of the M56 at Daresbury to deter festival-goers from walking on the motorway, which has happened during previous years, particularly following the end of the event.
Roads in Kent will also be busy as many people head to Europe via the ports.
The Port of Dover expects to be used by more than 20,000 cars over the bank holiday period.
Network Rail engineering work means no long-distance services on the East Coast Main Line will run to or from London King’s Cross from early evening on Saturday until early morning on Monday.
This will affect people travelling south returning from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
A reduced timetable will be in place between London Euston and Milton Keynes on Saturday and Sunday due to track renewals at Primrose Hill.
Journeys between London Paddington and south Wales will be diverted – taking longer than normal – as engineering work will close the line between Bristol Parkway and Severn Tunnel Junction.
Services will also be disrupted in the Stoke area from Saturday until Tuesday.
Travel trade organisation Abta estimated that more than two million people will be heading overseas between Friday and Monday, with Friday expected to be the busiest day for departures.
Popular destinations include beach resorts in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Turkey, with many people heading on city breaks to Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona and Milan.
Regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will issue new videos on its social media channels outlining passengers’ rights when flights are delayed or cancelled.
This includes food and drink, overnight accommodation, refunds and rebooking options.
CAA data shows 160,000 flights were delayed and 8,000 were cancelled across UK airports in July and August last year.
