Wind and rain could hamper motorists as millions of people take to the roads for the bank holiday getaway.

The RAC and Inrix predict that there could be more than 14 million drivers taking leisure trips over the long weekend, with the busiest days expected to be Friday and Saturday.



Among the events taking place are the Reading and Leeds music festivals, Creamfields in Cheshire, the Notting Hill carnival in London, and the Rugby League Challenge Cup final at Wembley.



Blustery showers in the north and west are expected to move south-east on Friday, bringing a cool night for the UK, with some grass frost in Scotland on Saturday morning.



Sunny spells and scattered showers will follow for many, with temperatures forecast to reach around 20C before they dip on Sunday to a maximum of between 17C and 19C, as heavy rain moves across the whole of the UK from the west.

Simon Partridge, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “In places we are quite likely to see some standing water on the roads which will add to the difficult driving conditions on Sunday.



“Some areas could see winds of between 30mph to 40mph, so a wet and windy day.”

Inrix predicts that the most delayed route will be the M5 from junction four to junction one in the West Midlands between 1pm and 6pm on Friday, when journeys with a typical travel time of 21 minutes could take an extra hour.



On Saturday the M1 is predicted to be adversely affected from junction 22 to junction 25 in the East Midlands, with typical journey times increasing from 16 minutes to 62 minutes.



Some relief will be offered by Highways England’s decision to lift and complete more than 300 miles of roadworks on motorways and major A roads from early on Friday morning.



But engineering work on the railways means a number of routes will be disrupted.

Network Rail is urging passengers not to travel on the west coast mainline to or from London between Saturday and Monday as London Euston is closed.

People who do travel between north-west England and the capital risk journeys that are “far longer, busier and less comfortable” than normal, the government-owned company warned.



Network Rail route managing director Martin Frobisher said: “There is never an ideal time to shut the railway but these weekends are the least disruptive times to do it.”

Engineering work will also disrupt some services to Manchester, Birmingham International and Derby.

