The best and worst days and times to travel in the UK this Christmas – as record numbers hit the roads
The RAC is expecting this year’s festive getaway to be the busiest by far as the UK drives home for Christmas in its millions, with a massive 37.5m trips to see friends and family planned in the week running up to 25th December.
The breakdown, servicing, and repairs company has found this year’s figures are the highest since it began recording data in 2013, up by a massive 8 million trips on the 29.3 million estimated last year.
With Christmas falling mid-week in 2025, the numbers suggest drivers are keen to set off early to avoid an undoubtedly frantic weekend on the roads. Around 18% of getaway journeys, equating to 6.5 million trips, will be made on Wednesday 17th, and Thursday 18th December.
But the RAC expects the main wave of festive journeys to start on Friday 19th December with 3.6 miilion trips planned, before escalating to 4.1 million on ‘Snarl-up Saturday’ 20th December, making it the busiest Saturday of any Christmas getaway period since its records began in 2013.
Approximately 3.5 million journeys are expected on Sunday 21st, while a further 5.3m trips are set to take place at some point between the 19th and 21st, although drivers are unsure exactly when they’ll travel.
According to the RAC’s research, there will then be a slight lull in festive trips at the start of Christmas week – with Monday and Tuesday being normal working days for many people – when 3.1 million and 3 million journeys are planned respectively. However, volumes of traffic could be at their highest since COVID on Christmas Eve when 4.2 million getaways are expected, making it the single busiest day for getaways over the period.The data also shows drivers are planning to make a further 4.2 million journeys at some point between Monday 22nd and Christmas Eve.
Best And Worst Times To Drive In The Run Up To Christmas 2025
Analysis from transport analytics experts INRIX suggests there will be lengthy delays at peak times on ‘Frantic Friday’ as drivers leave major cities for the Christmas break and share the roads with people finishing the working week. Queues of more than half an hour are expected from 4.30pm along the M25 clockwise from J15 for the M4 to J19 Watford and anticlockwise from J10 Kingston to J6 East Grinstead, as well as in Manchester on the M60 clockwise from J7 Altrincham to J18 for the M62 for Leeds.
On the same day, Wales looks set to see hold ups from 7.30am towards the Prince of Wales Bridge, with delays of more than half an hour expected along the M4 eastbound from Newport and the Brynglas Tunnels.
On the two busiest days over the getaway period – ‘Snarl-up Saturday’ and Christmas Eve – the RAC and INRIX are advising drivers to expect lengthy delays on major roads between 11 am and 7 pm, when most journeys will be made.
Leisure trips by car show no sign of easing on the Christmas bank holidays either, although the absence of regular commuter traffic and heavy goods vehicles should make journeys easier. Drivers are expecting to make 4.7 million journeys to see friends and family on Christmas Day, 4.6m on Boxing Day and 4.1 million on the 27th as they travel home or continue their celebrations elsewhere.
Rail engineering works could also force more people onto the roads as no trains will run from London Liverpool Street and London Waterloo stations, or between Cambridge to Cambridge North and Bury St Edmunds to Stansted Airport, all on 27th December. In Scotland, buses will replace trains in West Dunbartonshire from the 27th to New Year’s Eve, which may affect traffic in those areas.
“With record numbers predicted to be taking to the roads this Christmas, journeys have the potential to be ‘Grinch-worthy’ without some careful planning, said RAC mobile servicing and repairs team leader Nick Mullender.
“The week before Christmas is one of the few times of year when most of the UK hits the road simultaneously, with 2025 looking to be the busiest getaway period since our records began. ‘Snarl-up Saturday’ will be especially busy amid journeys home and the final weekend for gift shopping, but it’s midweek Christmas Eve that takes the top spot, suggesting many drivers are saving their precious annual leave and making getaway journeys at the very last moment.”
