Easter Monday washout sparks travel warning

Heavy rain could spark travel chaos for an estimated two million Brits making return journeys following the Easter weekend. The RAC has said that more than 2 million[1] journeys will be made on Easter Monday. Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned of heavy showers during Monday evening in London and the South East, with clouds building throughout the day.

Up to 20mm-30mm of rainfall is expected to fall in some areas due to the heavy rain with the Met Office warning that the rainfall may impact bus and train services at times during the day with road flooding potentially increasing journey times. Kathryn Chalk, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “We’ll see further spells of heavy rain coming in, pushing its way northwards through Easter Monday. “Probably a damp start, especially across Wales, central England and north-eastern parts as well with further heavy spells of rain here.

“Further towards the South, if we do see any clouds breaking up we could see heavy showers again in the afternoon.” At the time of writing, 13 flood warnings were in place across the country and 110 flood alerts.

New Road Cricket Club, home of Worcestershire CCC was flooded (Photo: Jacob King/PA)

Guidance on the Met Office website encourages drivers to reduce their speeds, as rain can reduce visibility, and give themselves more time to brake on slippery road surfaces – suggesting a gap of at least four seconds between traffic. The warning primarily concerns parts of south-west England, though some areas in south-east England and parts Wales – including its capital – can also expect rain.

Affected regions include Portsmouth, Southampton, Bristol, Bath and Cardiff. The lengthiest delays are expected to be between 10am and 12 noon, and drivers have been advised to wait until later in the day and travel in the evening. The RAC predicted last week that due to Easter falling earlier this year, there could be more congestion on roads than usual.

This is because the first bank holiday weekend of 2024 coincides with the two-week spring school holiday. Some routes in the South of England are set for the worst delays on Easter Monday while those taking an Easter trip via the A303 from Ilmister to Andover could be spending twice as long on roads as normal with transport analyst INRIX saying the route could now take 2.6 hours[2].

Many rail links are not operating as usual on Easter Monday which could potentially drive more travellers on to the roads. Avanti West Coast is set to be “severely impacted” by engineering work[3] running from Friday 29 Mar to Monday 1 Apr.

Avanti advises customers to travel on either of the Easter Break, but replacement buses will be available during some of its routes. RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson advises travellers driving over Easter Monday to check their fuel, oil and coolant levels before making their journey, as well as their tyre pressure and warning lights. Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at the INRIX, advised drivers to adjust their departure so they are not travelling at peak hours.

Stormy weather earlier in the week has already caused significant delays for people travelling to the UK. People travelling via Dover on Friday were forced to queue for up to an hour due to stormy weather, courtesy of Storm Nelson and tighter security registrations. Ahead of the weekend, it was estimated that more than 14 million people are set to take to Britain’s roads over the four-day break, with drivers told their planned journeys could take twice as long as usual amid what has been dubbed by the RAC as “carmageddon”.

Traffic queues stretched up to 20 miles were reported on the M4 and M5 interchange near Bristol on Friday – adding at least 45 minutes to journey times as many rushed to get away for Easter.

References

1. ^ more than 2 million (media.rac.co.uk)
2. ^ could now take 2.6 hours (inrix.com)
3. ^ engineering work (twitter.com)