The RAC think there’ll be 11M extra leisure car journeys on the UK roads between Friday and Sunday, will the weather be a help or hindrance to motorists? Although there’s some more rain in the forecast overall it should be turning drier.
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00:00Hello. If you're heading for the roads this weekend, you won't be surprised to learn that you won't be alone.
00:05Our friends at the RAC are suggesting 11 million extra leisure journeys will be taken between today, Friday and the end of Sunday.
00:12So even before we get into Christmas week.
00:15The good news is that the weather is at least turning a little bit drier. It has been very wet recently.
00:20The rain easing in many areas during the rest of Friday.
00:24There will be more rain across the south later on Saturday, generally Sunday, again, looking at least a little bit drier.
00:31But Friday evening promises further soggy conditions across parts of the east and still a lot of commuter traffic as well as those extra leisure journeys.
00:39So the M1 down into northern portions of the M25 and the M11 could be particularly sticky through Friday evenings.
00:46Russia with that wet weather, a lot of spray and surface water on the roads.
00:50A few showers in the east early on Saturday, but the RAC suggesting if you're traveling on Saturday, then before 10 o'clock would be a good time to go.
00:57Although there could be some fog around through the morning, which could linger across parts of northern Britain.
01:02Further south, well, we're looking at more rain coming in.
01:05Much of Saturday will be dry, but this rain will be heavy as it approaches the southwest on Saturday afternoon.
01:11Heavy downpours extending up through the M5 and towards the M4 corridor on Saturday evening.
01:16A weather warning in force because it's been so wet recently, this extra rain falling across the south later on Saturday could cause some flooding issues.
01:24Inrix, the transportation analyst experts, are suggesting that the busiest roads on Saturday could be the M40 and the M1, particularly between junctions 12 and 16.
01:35It does look as if the heaviest rain will be a little to the south of that, but there could still be some showers up the M40 towards the Birmingham area, certainly on Saturday evening.
01:45Further north on Saturday, as I said, the biggest issue could be with fog.
01:48Just a few showers maybe over the M62, but generally the weather conditions around the Greater Manchester area don't look too bad through much of Saturday.
01:56And further north as well by the odd shower close to the M8.
01:59Again, weather conditions are not too bad on Saturday.
02:02The fog, though, is likely to be an issue and it could thicken up again on Saturday night.
02:06The rain should by then, though, be clearing away from the southeast.
02:10Sunday does look drier. It could be foggy in the morning.
02:13There'll be a few showers in the west, but overall, as I say, Sunday looks largely dry.
02:18You may even see a little bit of sunshine around as well.
02:21And that drier trend will hopefully continue into Christmas week as well.
02:26There'll still be some rain, especially it looks like across the south on Monday night, but overall turning drier and also turning a little bit colder.
02:32So we could see a return of those frosty mornings.
02:35We'll have an update throughout the Christmas period, of course.
02:38Best way to stay up to date with the very latest weather is to follow the Met Office on social media.
02:42Visit the RAC website for details of how to prepare your car if you are heading on the roads this Christmas.