AA predict 2015 Easter break to be busiest time in recent years on UK roads
An early Easter means an even longer wait until summer. For this reason, the AA expects more people than usual to travel over the Easter break, thus making the upcoming weekend one of the busiest occasions for motorists of 2015.
The holiday traffic is expected to peak today (2 April), as the latest AA-Populus poll revealed that almost half of respondents (47 per cent) will travel on the Thursday, while a further 44 per cent are set to depart on Good Friday. In total, it has been predicted that 15 million people will hit the road with their vehicles for the long weekend over these two days.
In preparation for the high number of travellers, the AA has put a fifth more patrols than normal in place to help with the higher breakdown workload.
Mark Spowage, AA patrol of the year, is aware that particular roads will be swamped: “Despite a rather unsettled forecast, we expect more people to get away this Easter, as it falls quite early this year. There will be a lot of pressure on the main getaway routes, particularly heading down to South-west England; and the likes of the M25, M1 and M6 are also going to be very busy.
“Do the essential checks on your car before heading off, paying particular attention to the tyres and adjusting the pressures for a heavy load, if required.”
The AA predict the top five busiest routes to be:
A303 – Westbound from M3/J8 through Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset
M1 – From Junction 6A (M25 interchange) to Junction 13; and from Junction 23A to Junction 32 (M18)
M5 – From Junction 15 (Almondsbury) towards Junction 31 (Exeter for West Country)
M6 – Through West Midlands (from Junction 4A) and northwards towards Lancashire (Junction 21A)
M25 – All sections, especially both ways around J14/17 (Heathrow Airport and M4, M40 interchanges)
With one of the busiest weekends already here, it doesn’t hurt to take extra precautions before hitting the roads.
