Festive travel: will the weather disrupt the Christmas getaway?

This year's Christmas getaway is set to be the most congested on record for UK motorists and, although the weather is improving, hazards including spray and fog could affect your travel plans.

According to forecasts from the RAC, external, an unprecedented 37.5 million leisure trips are expected to occur in the week leading up to 25 December 2025.

This would make it the busiest pre-Christmas period since the organisation began tracking this data in 2013, and around eight million more trips than last year.

The advice for drivers is familiar: prepare for delays, allow extra time for journeys and adjust your speed to the prevailing weather conditions.

People planning to use public transport this Christmas are being told to look for timetable changes and disruptions. Passengers are advised to check their journey, external details with National Rail or their local operator, as services will be heavily amended or non-existent on key festive dates.

Keep up to date with the forecast with the BBC Weather website and BBC Weather app to help you plan your journey.

Although recent widespread and heavy rain means surface water and spray will be a hazard on some roads, especially in parts of central and eastern England, the situation should slowly improve over the coming days.

That is good news for those planning to travel on "Snarl-up Saturday", set to be the busiest Saturday on record for festive travel. The RAC anticipates around 4.1 million journeys on that day alone and motorists are advised that the heaviest delays are likely to occur between 11am and 7pm.

It will be a much drier day overall, with patchy rain and brisk winds developing in the far west later on. Morning fog could lead to difficult driving conditions in places. especially in the Midlands, north-east England and the Welsh Marches. The AA advice, external on driving in fog includes using dipped headlights and keeping a larger stopping distance.

On Sunday the weather will remain cloudy with some intermittent light rain possible for everyone.

Monday and Tuesday will bring a mix of cloud and occasional outbreaks of rain, but the trend is for conditions to turn gradually cooler and drier.

Christmas Eve (Wednesday) is forecast to be the single busiest day for getaways, with 4.2 million trips expected.

By then we are likely to see a quieter and drier spell of weather taking hold. Although a drop in temperature is expected, it does not currently look cold enough for any ice or snow.

Again motorists are advised that traffic will be heaviest between 11am and 7pm.

Christmas Day itself is looking drier and colder compared to the first half of December.

In the days following Christmas higher pressure is expected to build in from the north-east. Under the influence of high pressure, we are likely to see a decrease in wet and windy weather in favour of slightly colder, more settled conditions.

Looking further ahead towards the new year, temperatures are likely to sit around average (6-9C) or a few degrees below depending on where you are. Overnight frost and fog could become more of a hazard.