The RAC says that 22 million leisure journeys by car are being planned for this bank holiday weekend, 8m more than last year and the highest number since the RAC first started asking drivers in 2014.

It is the major roads leading to popular bank holiday destinations that are likely to bear the brunt of the traffic, the RAC predicts.

Getaways look set to peak on Saturday, with an estimated 6.6m separate trips planned (up from 3.8m last year), followed by bank holiday Monday (5.6m, up from 2.9m) and tomorrow, Friday, (5.3m, up from 4.5m), a day when drivers look likely to experience some lengthy jams as regular weekday traffic combines with the expected leisure traffic.

It means that in total it is estimated there will be in the region of 22.5m leisure journeys taken by UK drivers between Friday and the end of the long weekend.

Highways England has said it is removing more than 700 miles of roadworks ahead of the weekend, meaning around 97% of motorways and major A-roads will be free of roadworks.

Travel this weekend