Monday Meltdown! 20million drivers hit the roads in heat climate immediately

Motorists face a ‘Monday Meltdown’ on congested roads across Britain today as up to 20million drivers vie for space at the end of the bank holiday weekend.

Warm temperatures of up to 24C (75F) will prompt an estimated six million people to take day trips on the last bank holiday before Christmas, according to the RAC.

Another 13million will be journeying home from weekend breaks today, with drivers urged to travel in the early morning or mid-evening to avoid the worst queues.

Traffic hotspots in the late morning and lunchtime are expected to include the M25 west of London, the M3 towards the south coast and the M5 in north Devon.

Congestion from mid-afternoon is expected to peak on routes such as the A23 from Brighton, the A303 eastbound at Stonehenge and the A31 from Dorset.

The RAC’s Simon Williams told the Daily Telegraph: ‘It could be a Monday meltdown on the roads. More sunshine will mean a surge of day-trippers, the same day that many people come home from short breaks. It could be a nightmare day to travel.

‘As soon as the sunshine comes out and temperatures shoot up, so will the traffic. Aim to finish your journey by 10am, or start after 7pm, if you want to avoid the worst jams.’

Another traffic hotspot will be the Port of Dover, where more than 20,000 cars are expected to travel through the  harbour in Kent – including inward and outbound journeys across the weekend.

National Highways said it had lifted ‘more than 500 miles of roadworks to ease journeys’ for drivers.

Rail passengers also face disruption, especially on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland.

National Rail said services to and from King’s Cross have been ‘significantly amended, with replacement buses operating, and some services not running at all’ from late Saturday night until early this morning.

Meanwhile at London Euston, for most of the long weekend a ‘reduced and amended service will be operated’ by the train companies on the West Coast Main Line.

National Rail added that ‘longer distance journeys, and local travel plans, may also be affected by work taking place in the Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield area’.

Forecasters have said most of the UK will be dry and sunny today before conditions become warmer but more unsettled in some parts of the country through the week.

The Met Office said there will be a ‘mixed start’ to today, with morning showers in parts of Scotland and northern England, but the cloud cover is expected to quickly clear.

Temperatures will be generally warm, with highs of 23C (73F) expected in London, 20C (68F) in Plymouth and 17C (63F) in Glasgow.

They said the ‘warming trend’ will continue for tomorrow and Wednesday, although showery rain is forecast in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said this afternoon’s good weather is thanks to a ‘brief ridge of high pressure’ moving in from the west.

In an online forecast, he said: ‘Showers will be few and far between.

‘Most places will be dry and – in the sunshine with lighter winds – it will feel warmer as well, with temperatures higher for many.’

Wet and windy weather is expected to spread across parts of Scotland, North West England and Northern Ireland throughout this evening with strong winds in the west.

Central England is expected to see the most summer sun, Mr Dewhurst added.

Tomorrow, London could see peaks of 25C (77F) with temperatures in the high teens expected further north where rain and strong winds is also likely.

Mr Dewhurst said: ‘It’s a wet day ahead for parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland as this weather system just slowly pushes a little further south and eastwards, bringing rain into North West England as well as Wales and perhaps northern coasts of Devon and Cornwall as well.

‘To the south-east of this, the southerly winds will draw in some quite warm air.’

This band of showers is expected to slowly move away eastwards, ushering in drier conditions on Wednesday.

The Met Office said temperatures should be even warmer, with 28C (83F) possible in London, 24C (75F) in Cardiff, 20C (68F) in Edinburgh and 19C (66F) in Belfast.

Over the weekend, the aftermath of Storm Lilian brought scattered downpours in northern and western areas.

Mr Dewhurst said: ‘Sunday was quite an unsettled day across the UK – cool and cloudy with outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards and quite windy too.’