Almost 19 million drivers are expected to take to Britain’s roads over the Bank Holiday weekend, with the heaviest traffic due on Friday and Saturday as holidaymakers head for the coast, airports and ferry terminals.
The scale is large enough to test nearly every part of the travel network at once. Drivers are being warned of long queues towards seaside resorts and the Port of Dover, while up to 2 million people are due to fly abroad and most of Britain’s rail network is still carrying the strain of planned engineering work.
The RAC said the road figure is 1 million higher than the same holiday period in 2025, a sign that demand has not eased despite the pressure on household budgets. Mark Tanzer said people were still making the most of May getaways even with economic and geopolitical uncertainty hanging over the weekend. Almost four in 10 drivers say they plan a leisure trip, and while most will still travel, about 5% said high fuel prices would keep them at home.
That caution is happening against the backdrop of the highest average UK petrol price since December 2022, at 158.52p a litre. The AA said day trips to the coast will make up a bigger share of leisure journeys than overnight breaks, with jams expected towards resorts on the east and north-west coasts of England and on roads leading to the south-east and Cornwall, including the A303, M5 and A38. RingGo said Saturday is usually the busiest day for seaside day trips, with Bournemouth normally seeing the sharpest rise in visitors.
For many travellers, the most acute pressure point will be Dover. About 18,000 travellers are due there between Friday and Sunday, with departures peaking on Saturday morning, and hour-long processing waits were already being reported by 6am on Friday. The delays are tied to border checks under the EU’s entry-exit system, which is not yet fully operational on the French borders, and police are still carrying out manual checks despite kiosks being installed at the port.
On the roads, Inrix said the worst traffic is likely on the M1, M25, M5 and M6, which would leave much of England’s main holiday routes moving slowly at the same time. The travel picture is made tighter by weather too, with temperatures forecast to pass 30C in places by Monday, raising the chance that the return leg becomes as difficult as the getaway.
Network Rail said most of Britain’s rail network would stay open, but £64 million worth of planned engineering work is still under way, so rail passengers are not escaping the weekend squeeze either. The next test is straightforward: how badly Friday and Saturday clog the roads, and whether the Dover delays ease once the new border system becomes fully operational.
