Plenty of travel peaks coming up, starting on Frantic Friday and closely followed by Snarl-Up Saturday. The weather includes some wet and windy spells
Motoring organisations are already highlighting traffic increases for Frantic Friday and Snarl-up Saturday as the Christmas getaway begins this weekend. An expected 3.7 million road journeys will take place on Saturday 21st as people head off with even more people venturing out locally for Christmas shopping and celebrations.
As Christmas falls in the middle of the week this year, the options for travel are more spread out but many schools will be finishing on Friday which is often a starting point for road madness. The UK weather can add difficulties to travel at this time of year. Widespread snow and ice look unlikely this weekend, even for Christmas Day but the Santa Shaker hasn’t given up hope just yet,
“RAC predicts a record 29 million festive trips before the 25th as the country drives home for Christmas”
‘An estimated 29.3m Christmas getaway journeys will be made by drivers to see friends and family in the run-up to the 25th with nearly half of these (14.3m) crammed into this coming weekend and 5.7m trips being taken this Wednesday and Thursday’ according to new data from the RAC and transport analytics specialists INRIX.
There will be more wet and windy weather this week. Tuesday evening looks very windy, lasting into Wednesday morning for Britain. Everywhere becomes mild midweek, then a brief cold plunge Wednesday night into Thursday. That might need watching as conditions turn wintry from the northwest. Everything stays mobile with more wet and windy weather running through and strong winds potentially for northern parts of the UK at the weekend.
Heavy rain is continuing today for northwest Scotland and the Western Isles. There are flood warnings in place from SEPA relating to river levels and surface water which could last into Tuesday when the strong, gusty winds will ease.
On Tuesday southerly winds will strengthen over Ireland and western Britain as a warm front brings rain to the northwestern quarter of the UK. There will be mild air for midweek. There will be southerly gales through the Irish Sea later on Tuesday and the west coast of Scotland. The cold front will push rain into southwestern Britain with some heavy pulses. Everywhere will have a blustery Tuesday night with further gales (even severe gales) in the far north of Scotland as the low centre moves by.
As that first low moves past Shetland another low pressure will bring rain over Wales and England on Wednesday. As that clears away eastwards there will be a tuck of colder air from the north. There will be sleet and snow showers over the NW Highlands possibly reaching Snowdonia and the hills of Northern Ireland in a colder northwesterly breeze. Away from any showers it will be fine and sunny but feel chilly. The low sun at this time of year is something to consider when driving in the morning, or mid-afternoon.
A new frontal band could topple in from the northwest on Friday bringing a spell of wet and blustery weather for a time as it edges southwards but not amounting to much. Friday night starts clear and settled before the next Atlantic system heads in for the weekend. Generally, it looks windy in the north, with bands of rain from the west or clusters of showers from the northwest.
Rail, ferry and airline operators will be hoping for quieter weather conditions over the festive period as ice, high winds, snow, heavy rain and fog can all impact these routes.
Very cold air over Finland but milder for Germany, Poland and central Europe this week.
Next week
The overall theme for our UK weather in the run-up to Christmas is a bit milder than average with high pressure away to the southwest. Low pressure will often pass to the north with wind and rain more likely here. The far north of Scotland will see temperatures closer to average in Christmas week and often experience strong winds.
Many will have to wait until Christmas Eve and the RAC predictions are for “3.8m separate getaway journeys expected by car in addition to the final flurries of commuter traffic and … a further 2.5m motorists who intend to travel at some point on either the 23rd or 24th December.”
The advice, if travelling by motorway or on A-roads this Christmas, is to remember TRIP.
Top-up: Fuel, oil, and screen wash
Rest: Plan regular stops every two hours to avoid driver fatigue
Inspect: Check tyre pressure and tread
Prepare: Have a plan for severe weather conditions
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