Trafficmaster warns of Christmas chaos on the UK’s roads

Santa Claus won't be the only one needing to plan his journey well this Christmas, according to intelligent driving experts, Trafficmaster. Analysts at the company predict over 18 million vehicles will be on Britain’s roads over the Christmas weekend, causing severe delays that could stifle Christmas cheer.

Based on Trafficmaster’s historic and predictive traffic information, the worst traffic day is likely to be Thursday 21st December, when commercial, commuter and leisure traffic will reach its peak and could double journey times across main routes in the UK.

Trafficmaster predicts the afternoon rush on 21st December will be the longest evening rush hour of the year, with congestion likely to build from as early as 2.00pm, lasting until 7.00pm, caused by a unique mix of HGVs making last minute deliveries, commuters leaving work early for holidays, last-minute Christmas shoppers and families travelling to their Christmas destinations.

Friday 22nd December will also be hit badly with congestion. Once again we will see the peak of traffic starting around 2.00pm and lasting into early evening. The worst hotspots will be:

1 M25, Eastern and Western sectors,
2 the M1 around Luton and in the East Midlands,
3 the Old M6 between junctions 4 and 10,
4 the M60 around Manchester,
5 the M1 and M621 serving Leeds,
6 the A1M coming out of Gateshead and Newcastle,
7 the M32 from Bristol, and
8 the M4 between Newport and Cardiff

Philip Hale, spokesman for Trafficmaster explained: “Christmas is typically one of the worst times of the year for traffic volumes and each year the timing of holidays creates a slightly different challenge for travellers. The great unknown is weather, which could make journeys much more difficult. We'd encourage anyone travelling in the run-up to Christmas to be smart about your journey – plan in advance, get up to date traffic information and alter your journey time to miss these peak periods if you can.

“Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story, as traffic will build again between Boxing Day and the New Year. Many people will be heading to shopping centres for the traditional sales period, HGVs will be on the roads to re-stock shelves and football fans will be heading to matches. Again, check your route before setting off,” he concluded.

Compared to a normal week, where traffic peaks arise early morning, Trafficmaster predicts that heavy traffic will occur throughout the day between 10.00am and 4.00pm between Christmas and New Year and congestion will more likely occur on local roads where it is not typically seen.

The regular commuter traffic pattern will begin again from 3rd January. However Trafficmaster data shows that the first two weeks of January are often the quietest times of the year, as many commuters won’t be back at work until mid January.