Heavy traffic built up on Good Friday

Traffic appeared to be receding on Monday evening, although it remained heavy, after peaking in the afternoon.

Bad weather on Saturday and Sunday may have kept some people at home, although sunshine greeted many parts of the UK on Monday.

It had been estimated 1.8 million people would go abroad for the break, with one million of those flying to their destinations.

Rail travel in England was disrupted over the weekend, with the closure of London's Paddington Station forcing passengers to end their journeys at Reading or Ealing Broadway.

It's busy, but it seems to be calming down a little from this afternoon Spokeswoman BBC Travel News

Buses replaced trains between Hemel Hempstead and Milton Keynes on the West Coast Mainline, adding an hour to journey times.

Paddington will remain closed for Tuesday's morning rush hour after engineering work was delayed by high winds.

There was no major gridlock reported on the roads on Monday evening.

At 1745 BST a spokeswoman for BBC Travel News said: "It's busy, but it seems to be calming down a little from this afternoon.

"It looks like people made their way back from the West earlier in the day."

Some of the key traffic troublespots include:

• Six-mile queues southbound on the M11 from Cambridgeshire, between junctions 10 and eight

• The M20, which is closed westbound in Kent

• Six-mile tailbacks on the A1M southbound in Yorkshire near J46

• Bristol, where traffic is busy in both directions on the M4 near junctions 18 and 19

• The M4, where traffic travelling into London is moving slowly between junctions 2 and 3.

The getaway began on Good Friday, when traffic jams formed on many routes to the coast, amid temperatures higher than those experienced in Mediterranean resorts.

But the RAC said colder weather and rain on Saturday had caused the cancellation of any ambitious drives.

A spokeswoman said: "It seems that people have been enjoying local days out - visiting families or going for walks - because the weather hasn't been that good."