Millions of people are facing travel disruption on roads, railways and flights across the Bank Holiday.
The long weekend over Easter is one of the busiest times of the year for travel, as people travel to spend the time with family, or simply make the most of the time off work.
More than 300 engineering projects are being carried out by Network Rail across Britain between Good Friday and Easter Monday, with train journeys from major stations including London Euston and London Victoria being affected.
On the roads, the RAC predicted there will be more than 19 million journeys taking place from Thursday through to Easter Monday and warned of widespread congestion on key routes including the M25, M6 and M5.
Meanwhile some baggage handlers, check-in staff and flight dispatchers at Gatwick Airport are on strike over a dispute involving pay and pensions.
A yellow weather warning has also been issued for two areas of Northern Ireland, with heavy rain and possible flooding forecast.
Anyone planning to drive or take public transport in affected areas should check local updates.
Here is a list of all the travel disruption taking place this weekend.
Road disruptions this weekend
RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson warned of the potential for ‘big jams’ over the Easter weekend, particularly if there is a break in the weather.
She said: ‘It’s vital to plan ahead and be prepared for trips to take longer because of the wet weather and the expected getaway congestion.’
You can use the AA route planner to keep on top of traffic issues this weekend. The travel alerts page on National Highways is also useful for any major updates.
National Highways has lifted roadworks from more than 1,100 miles of motorway and major A roads, with 97.5% of its network now free of traffic cones.
The A31 in Hampshire was closed westbound between the M27 Cadnam Interchange and the A338 near Ringwood due to a serious collision this morning.
The road has now been cleared and reopened.
How to avoid bank holiday traffic this weekend
Garage.co.uk has shared some tips of how to beat the traffic this weekend. Its advice is as follows:
Timing is key
Traffic is bad in most cities’ day to day and bank holidays amplify this problem. The key to avoiding peak times is to leave early or later in the day. If you’re visiting a particularly popular area of the country, such as the Lake District, North Wales or Cornwall there is no harm in hitting the road between 5-6am to avoid peak times. During bank holidays traffic is usually worse in the afternoon, so avoid travelling mid-day if you can.
Smart Route Planning
Live traffic apps will be your best friend when it comes to getting away for the weekend. Both Google Maps and Apple Maps can reroute you in real time to avoid traffic jams, which could end up saving you hours off your journey. Digital maps also flag any road works!”
Traffic is typically heaviest on motorways during bank holidays. If you can avoid long stretches of motorways, this could save you time – however make sure you don’t end up stuck down narrow country lanes.
Travel in Zen Mode
Traffic brings out the worst in people, from shouting to swearing, tempers can be flared. Make sure to pack snacks, drinks and have a good playlist at the ready in case you do find that the roads are busy, these will ease your journey and reduce your stress. If you can, try to break up your trip with a scenic stop or pub lunch around the halfway point – make the journey part of the fun!
Plan Around Events
Theres nothing worse than getting on the road and realising you have been caught in traffic for an event that you aren’t even attending, Festivals, sports games and parades can choke up an entire town or city. If you are travelling around the outskirts of a city, double check to see if there are any events going on which could add to the local traffic, this way you can see if you need to adapt your route or change your timings.
Flight disruptions this Easter weekend
More than 100 members of Unite the Union are on strike until Tuesday at London’s Gatwick Airport, meaning passengers could face delays.
Those flying with Norwegian, Air Mauritius, Delta, TAP,Ethiopian Airlines and Air Peace airlines could face ‘major disruption’ after staff working for the ground handling firm Red Handling voted to go on strike, the union said.
Last-minute attempts to reach a deal on Thursday failed, however Nick Williams, head of passenger operations at Gatwick, told the BBC they don’t believe there is a ‘ big-scale impact’ as just a handful of airlines are on strike.
‘We’re working really closely with those airlines to try and mitigate that impact and hope that as many of those flights operate as close to schedule as possible,’ he said.
‘We’d advise passengers to check their airline of the weekend.’
London Stansted, London Heathrow, London Southend and London City are not affected by the strike action.
There have however been some delays and cancellations across the airports for other reasons.
Metro encourages all travellers to check the airports’ websites for live status updates.
Train travel disruption over Easter weekend
Euston is closed between Saturday, April 19 and Monday, April 21 due to work to renew overhead electric lines and improve drainage.
You can read more about the Euston station temporary closure here.
Services on the West Coast Main Line will begin and end at Carlisle from Saturday to Monday, with replacement buses covering northern stations.
Trains will also be disrupted between Manchester and Stockport, Cambridge, Southampton and the Leeds and Huddersfield area.
Platforms 1 to 8 at London Victoria will be shut throughout the bank holiday, with Southeastern trains diverted to London Bridge or London Cannon Street. Routes around Southampton and Brockenhurst will also be hit by closures.
London Easter rail travel
- Elizabeth line will have a reduced service between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 4 and Maidenhead between Friday, April 18 and Monday, April 21, while Acton Main Line, West Ealing and Hanwell stations are closed
- All lines to and from London Euston and the station will be closed between Saturday, April 19, and Monday, April 21
- London Victoria will have no Southeastern services over the Easter weekend with trains diverted, while Southern and Gatwick Express will run a reduced timetable to and from Victoria
- London Paddington will have disruptive work during the weekend
For London Underground travel issues, you can read our story here.
In Scotland, track renewal works mean buses replace trains between Carlisle and Glasgow and Carlisle and Edinburgh.
Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said: ‘The vast majority of the rail network will be open as usual for people wanting to travel over the Easter bank holiday, but there will be changes to services in some areas so we’re asking passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel.’
She added that Easter presented a key opportunity to carry out works because passenger numbers are lower and the double bank holiday allows more time for upgrades.
The company said £86 million will be invested in the rail network over the weekend.
This article has been updated and was originally published on April 14 2025.
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