The AA expects up to 17 million motorists travel on Britain’s roads during the festive period, including those on their Christmas getaway, last-minute shoppers and regular commuters. Friday, December 20, is expected to be one of the busiest days of the year as schools and workplaces break-up ahead of the last weekend before the big day. The AA survey of 18,000 motorists found 53 percent and 52 percent of drivers planned to use main roads and motorways on December 19 and 20.

Traffic is expected to reach a peak on December 20 after 4pm, on major routes in London, Birmingham and Bristol.

Those travelling on the M25 anticlockwise between Junction 13-24 are expected to add at least one hour to their journeys.

The M5 between Bristol and Weston-Super-Mare, and the M6 around Birmingham, were also identified as two roads which are likely to be congested.

Stretches of the M1 from Luton northwards and the M62 and M60 in the North West were also identified as those with delays likely.

On Saturday, December 21 delays of between 30 and 45 minutes are anticipated on major routes to some of the UK’s biggest shopping centres.

The M60 between Junction 9-10 for Manchester Trafford Centre, the B225/A256 and A2 for Bluewater shopping centre, the A4540 for the Birmingham Bullring shopping centre and the A562/A5053 for Liverpool ONE shopping centre are expected to be the most affected.

The AA survey also found Sunday, December 22, will be the third busiest festive day on the roads with 48 percent of drivers planning to use their car.

Roads are set to remain busy right up to Christmas Eve with 46 percent of motorists expected to use their vehicle on December 24.

Meanwhile on Christmas Day one-in-three (33 percent) of motorists are expected to use their vehicle to make a journey.

AA patrol of the year, Ben Sheridan, has advised drivers to plan ahead to make their festive trips as smooth as possible.

Mr Sheridan said: “Getting stuck in traffic isn’t part of anyone’s Christmas plans and we hope our hotspot list will help drivers avoid a Christmas getaway nightmare.

“If you can’t avoid travelling on busy routes then try to avoid peak journey times and, if all else fails, make sure you are well prepared for the journey.

“The last thing you want in a traffic jam is to be worrying about whether you are going to run out of fuel or trying to placate hungry passengers.

“The pressure of being late can be particularly stressful at this time of years and, with some delays estimated at up to 90 minutes, drivers should make sure they build extra time into their journey.”

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Mr Sheridan added that drivers should carry out basic checks before embarking on long journeys to help avoid a breakdown, including tyres, fuel, lights, engine oil, windscreen washer fluid and anti-freeze.

Train journeys could also take longer than expected with Network Rail carrying out 386 engineering projects over the festive period.

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