Airports braced for big bank holiday getaway

An estimated 1.5 million Britons are heading abroad this bank holiday weekend, while the roads at home will be jammed with hundreds of thousands travelling to coastal and inland resorts.

An estimated 1.5 million Britons are heading abroad this bank holiday weekend, while the roads at home will be jammed with hundreds of thousands travelling to coastal and inland resorts.

The overwhelming number of holidaymakers will be travelling to destinations such as Majorca, the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, the Greek islands, Cyprus, Italy and Turkey. Weekend breaks to Paris, Amsterdam were also popular.

The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said yesterday that about 850,000 people would be leaving from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh airports this weekend. The British Airports Authority predicted the busiest day at its airports would be today, with about 450,000 passengers setting off.

Trafficmaster, the traffic information company, predicted that today would be the worst for motorway jams, with the M1, M6 and M25 likely to be busiest.

The weather looks set to be unremarkable but dry for those who have opted to stay in Britain. While forecasters predict a rain-free break for most of Britain, maximum temperatures will only reach about 23C.