Travel news - LIVE: Latest updates on Frantic Friday as holidaymakers face busiest day of year

Millions of holidaymakers planning to get away this weekend are threatening to bring gridlock to Britain’s roads, as some airports brace for their busiest 24 hours ever on a day of travel chaos.

The start of the school holidays in England and Wales is expected to see around 3.8 million extra journeys made by car across the country on what the RAC has described as “Frantic Friday”.

Major routes to holiday popular holiday destinations in the south west, including Devon and Cornwall, are expected to see average delays to travel times of well over an hour, with minor accidents threatening to create even longer tailbacks.

Meanwhile, the UK’s airports will see record numbers of passengers jetting off for summer breaks abroad.

Gatwick is set for the busiest day in its history on Friday, with 86,000 outbound passengers, or 80 per minute during operating hours, passing through its terminals.

At least 24 flights have also been cancelled due to strike action by Ryanair pilots, grounding services between London and Dublin over a dispute involving annual leave arrangements.

Follow the latest Frantic Friday travel news live here:

Live Updates

New updates availableRefresh

10:14

When is the best time to travel?

Not only has the RAC forecast which roads will see the longest delays this weekend, it has also predicted the best and worst times to travel.

 

The advice seems to suggest you’re better to leave it late on Friday evening to get your journey underway, or beat the traffic by getting up early over the weekend:

 

Friday

Best time: 7pm to 9pm

Worst time: 2pm to 5.30pm

 

Saturday

Best time: 7am to 9am

Worst time: 11.30am to 1pm

 

Sunday

Best time: 7am to 9am

Worst time: 12pm to 1pm

09:47

If you have been affected by today's Ryanair pilot strike, our travel correspondent Simon Calder explains what your rights are when it comes to cancelled flights:

09:11

 

Yesterday, thousands of British Airways passengers saw delays as the airline canceled dozens of flights at London Heathrow:

 

British Airways chaos at London Heathrow after cancelled flights affect 10,000 passengers

The Independent‘The vast majority of customers affected by the supplier system issue and the temporary closure of Heathrow airport’s air traffic control tower are now on route to their destinations,’ said a BA spokesperson

09:10

The RAC has compiled a list of major roads across the UK it believes will see heavy congestion today. Here are the top five and the additional time expected to be added to journeys. Delays could be longer if breakdowns or accidents take place on these routes:

 

• M40 southbound: Junction 3A (Birmingham) to Junction 1A (Watford) – 1hr 30min delay
• M5 southbound: Junction 12 (Gloucester) to Junction 31 (Bodmin) – 1hr 17min delay
• M5 northbound: Junction 31 (Bodmin) to Junction 12 (Gloucester) – 1hr 9min delay
• A303 westbound: Junction: M3 (Basingstoke) to A37 (Bristol) – 52min delay
• M4 westbound: Junction 18 (Bath) to Junction 23 (Chepstow) – 46min delay

08:43

08:29

Record crowds, severe traffic jams and pilots strike forecast for busiest weekend of the year

The IndependentExclusive: airports, ports, motorways expected to be extremely busy, with strikes and rail engineering work adding to travel problems

08:14

Ryanair pilots’ strike causes 24 flight cancellations

The IndependentLinks from Dublin to London, Birmingham and Manchester are among those grounded

08:13

Welcome to The Independent's live updates on everything traffic and travel related on what is expected to be one the UK's busiest days of the year for journeys by road, rail and air.