Travellers warned of bank holiday disruption

Millions of people in the UK face travel disruption this bank holiday weekend, contending with busy roads, a rail strike and engineering works.

There is likely to be significant disruption on the rail network on CrossCountry routes from Aberdeen to Cornwall because of a strike by the RMT union over pay, safety and staffing.

The RAC has also warned roads will be busy on Friday, with three million getaway journeys planned, and particularly heavy traffic on the M5 between Bristol and Devon.

The weather is looking to be mostly dry across the three-day weekend, with large crowds expected at festivals being held across the country.

Crowds are expected at events including London's Notting Hill Carnival, the Reading and Leeds festivals, the Emerge festival in Belfast, the Edinburgh Fringe closing weekend, the Creamfields festival in Cheshire and the Women's Rugby World Cup opener in Sunderland.

Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, making this the last long weekend before Christmas for those regions.

Will there be rail delays?

Network Rail has advised all passengers to check their journeys before travelling due to strikes and rail works.

There will be no CrossCountry services on Saturday, meaning there will be no direct trains connecting Birmingham to Leicester, Derby or Nottingham.

On Sunday, although industrial action is not taking place, alterations and cancellations are to be expected.

On Monday, there will be a strike, but there will be limited services on all Cross Country lines between 08:00 BST and 18:00.

Trains between Birmingham, Reading and the South Coast will not run, as well as services between Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted airport.

There will only be a very limited service to the south west and north of York.

Meanwhile, on the East Coast Main Line, LNER will have no direct trains to London King's Cross on Sunday, with engineering projects taking place on other routes too, including bus replacement between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

In the West Midlands, buses will replace trains on some routes from Birmingham New Street due to planned engineering works.

How are the roads looking?

Some 17.6 million holiday trips are expected to be made by car across the UK between Friday and the bank holiday on Monday, the RAC said.

It says the busiest times to drive will be between 10:00 and 19:00 on Friday, 09:00 and 17:00 on Saturday and 11:00 and 18:00 on Monday.

Transport analytics firm Inrix says the M5 between Bristol and Devon will probably bear the brunt of traffic, with the stretch from J15 north of Bristol to J23 for Bridgwater likely to see some of the worst delays.

The M20 in Kent could also suffer afternoon hold-ups on Friday, from J7 near Maidstone to J3 westbound and J1 at Swanley to J5 at Aylesford eastbound.

"We're expecting major roads to airports and coastal destinations to be extremely busy, especially the south-east and south-west regions which could end up bearing the brunt of most holiday hold-ups," Nick Mullender, the RAC's mobile servicing and repairs team leader, said.

"Anyone planning routes through these areas should set off as early as possible or be prepared to spend longer in traffic."

What will the weather be like?

On Saturday, western England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland will see sunny spells in the afternoon but also a chance of showers. Scotland will also have some sunny spells.

Sunday will be mainly dry with spells of sunshine and a few areas of cloud, along with the chance of a light shower in the north.

Central and Southern England will be the warmest spots over the weekend, with temperatures predicted to be between 23 and 25C.

Bank Holiday Monday will be a largely dry and warm day with lots of sunshine. Rain will move into Northern Ireland in the evening.