Drivers will be making 11.5m separate festive getaway trips before Christmas Day

Drivers will be making 11.5m separate festive getaway trips before Christmas Day this year which has led the RAC to dub Friday 22 December ‘Frantic Friday’ – the day when the last of the year’s commuter traffic clashes with people desperately trying to get to see family and friends.*

New research by RAC Traffic Watch shows pre-Christmas leisure traffic will peak on Christmas Eve when 1.87m separate getaway car journeys will be taken, but in reality Friday 22 December is likely to be the most congested on the roads as commuter traffic mixes with an expected 1.25m leisure trips.

With the bank holidays falling on weekdays and schools breaking up for Christmas at different times across the UK, the RAC expects an even spread of traffic in the run-up to the big day, averaging about 1.4m getaway journeys each day between today and next Saturday. Leisure traffic is anticipated to then build with 1.56m journeys on 23 December, rising to 1.87m journeys on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day itself.

The total pre-Christmas getaway traffic will, however, be eclipsed this year by the 17.5m leisure trips that will be taken between 25 December and New Year’s Day as drivers criss-cross the UK to visit friends and family this festive season. Congestion on some parts of the network is therefore inevitable, but with little commuter and commercial traffic the roads will generally be quieter.