Travellers warned of bank holiday disruption

Millions of people in the UK face travel disruption this bank holiday weekend, contending with busy roads, a rail strike and engineering works.

There is likely to be significant disruption on the rail network on CrossCountry routes from Aberdeen to Cornwall because of a strike by the RMT union over pay, safety and staffing.

The weather is looking to be mostly dry across the three-day weekend, with large crowds expected at festivals being held across the country.

Meanwhile, ferry passengers at the Port of Dover on Friday faced queuing times of almost two hours.

Ferry operator DFDS said at 13:00 on Friday that waits at check-in desks were around 40 minutes and it was taking more than an hour to clear border control.

Earlier on Friday, the Gatwick Express service was disrupted due to a signalling fault.

The RAC has also warned roads will be busy on Friday, with three million getaway journeys planned, and particularly heavy traffic on the M5 between Bristol and Devon.

Crowds are expected at events including London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the Reading and Leeds festivals, the Emerge festival in Belfast, the Edinburgh Fringe closing weekend, the Creamfields festival in Cheshire and the Women’s Rugby World Cup openers.

Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, making this the last long weekend before Christmas for those regions.

Network Rail has advised all passengers to check their journeys before travelling this weekend due to strikes and rail works.

There will be no CrossCountry services on Saturday due to strikes, and service alterations and cancellations are to be expected on Sunday.

A second strike on Monday will limit services on all CrossCountry lines between 08:00 and 18:00.

Trains between Birmingham, Reading and the south coast will not run, and nor will services between Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted airport.

There will only be a very limited service to the south-west and north of York.

On the East Coast Main Line, LNER will have no direct trains between London King’s Cross and Peterborough on Sunday due to engineering works. A bus replacement service will also run between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

In the West Midlands, buses will replace trains on some routes from Birmingham New Street due to engineering works.

Avanti West Coast will operate a reduced service from London Euston, and trains will be diverted from Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International.

London Northwestern services will run to and from Birmingham International only.

Network Rail said the “vast majority” of services would run, but some engineering works were “unfortunately unavoidable”.

Around 17.6 million holiday trips are expected to be made by car across the UK between Friday and the bank holiday on Monday, the RAC said.

It says the busiest times to drive will be between 10:00 and 19:00 on Friday, 09:00 and 17:00 on Saturday and 11:00 and 18:00 on Monday.

Transport analytics firm Inrix says the M5 between Bristol and Devon will probably bear the brunt of traffic, with the stretch from J15 north of Bristol to J23 for Bridgwater likely to see some of the worst delays.

The M20 in Kent could also suffer afternoon hold-ups on Friday, from J7 near Maidstone to J3 westbound and J1 at Swanley to J5 at Aylesford eastbound.

“We’re expecting major roads to airports and coastal destinations to be extremely busy, especially the south-east and south-west regions which could end up bearing the brunt of most holiday hold-ups,” Nick Mullender, the RAC’s mobile servicing and repairs team leader, said.

“Anyone planning routes through these areas should set off as early as possible or be prepared to spend longer in traffic.”

Saturday will be dry but rather cloudy for many, although with a few sunny spells.

The north of Scotland and the far south-west will see the best of the sunshine.

Northern Ireland and Wales will see a few showers develop, and later Northern Ireland and the Hebrides will see some patchy rain arrive from the west with light winds.

Sunday will be warmer, with sunny spells and patchy cloud cover. Most parts will be dry, but a little rain will cross the north and west of Scotland.

Bank Holiday Monday will be warmer still, even very warm for parts of England and Wales with highs of 27C.

There will be a good deal of sunshine for most, but the south-easterly winds will strengthen in the far west with the chance of some showery rain across Northern Ireland later.

Major supermarkets will remain open during the bank holiday weekend, so there’s no need to rush off for a big shop to get you through.

There will be reduced hours, particularly on Sunday, so it’s best to check the opening times of your local as hours will vary shop-to-shop.

Businesses that will close on the Monday bank holiday include (you guessed it) banks, post offices and some other government services.

Benefit payments are due to be paid out on Friday ahead of the bank holiday weekend.