Christmas travel latest: 'Frantic Friday' traffic jams expected on all major motorways as 1.3m drivers embark on festive breaks

Travellers embarking on a Christmas getaway could be in for a long and arduous ride.

An estimated 1.3 million drivers on leisure trips are set to fight for road space with regular commuters leading to today being dubbed "frantic Friday".

Holidaymakers have been warned to leave before lunch, since the highest density of traffic is predicted in the afternoon and early evening.

Strikes by the RMT and TSSA unions were called off on Thursday, but the planned strike still means some Virgin Trains services are cancelled, augmenting road traffic chaos.

The A303, which runs past Stonehenge is expected to be among the worst affected and last Christmas drivers endured 13 hours of tailbacks.

Dr Graham Cookson, chief economist at transportation analysts Inrix, said many motorists will find themselves stuck in long queues from Friday afternoon onwards.

"After lunch most of the roads will get busier and stay busy into the evening," he said.

"What we see is roads in congestion for most of the time, average speeds very slow, people crawling along.

"The pure weight of traffic means a lot of motorways will be much slower than normal so your total journey takes so much longer."

Asked which routes will see the longest queues this year, Dr Cookson replied: "Unfortunately any of the major motorways. It's tricky to avoid."

He said the M25 is "right at the top of the list", warning: "It doesn't matter which way you're going round it".

The M6 between Merseyside and Staffordshire, M1 and M4 will be "incredibly busy as well", he added.

The RAC has strongly urged drivers to avoid long journeys "if they possibly can".

It estimates that 11.5 million leisure trips will be made by car between 17 December and Christmas Eve, but this will be eclipsed by the 17.5 million taking place between Christmas Day and New Year's Day as people take advantage of post-Christmas sales at shops.

Almost 400 miles of roadworks will be lifted by Highways England to ease journeys.

The "roadworks embargo" will be in place on motorways and major A roads from 6am on Friday until 2 January.

As well as trains being cancelled due to the planned strikes, some 260 engineering projects on the railway will also disrupt journeys .

Many of Britain's mainline routes will be partially shut as Network Rail carries out its biggest ever Christmas investment programme.

Great Western Railway is urging passengers to complete journeys by Saturday "at the latest" as London Paddington will be closed between Christmas Eve and December 27.

The West Coast main line will be halted between Preston and Lancaster from Christmas Eve to 27 December, with buses replacing trains.

Passengers travelling between London and Glasgow during this time are advised to go via Edinburgh, adding around an hour to journeys.

Coach operator National Express is running its largest ever Christmas schedule to meet increased demand from key locations such as Bournemouth, Cardiff, Leeds, Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Bristol, Glasgow and Manchester.

Airports, ports and international train stations are exceptionally busy with more than 4.5 million people heading abroad over Christmas and the new year.

The UK's busiest airport, Heathrow, will welcome almost 130,000 departing passengers on Friday.

Travel trade organisation Abta advised people to leave extra time to catch their flight, boat or train.

Press Association contributed to this report