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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Julie Delahaye

August bank holiday travel chaos - full list of disruption on trains, planes and UK roads

Brits planning last minute getaways this August bank holiday should prepare to face some disruption whether travelling by car, plane or train.

The long weekend is one of the last chances for families to escape before kids go back to school, so it's always a peak travel period. This year, UK roads are expected to be so busy that the AA has even issued an amber warning for motorists.

That's alongside other disruption for holidaymakers including bus strikes in London, engineering works affecting rail services, and airport strikes that will hit those planning Spain and Portugal holidays.

We take a look at some of the disruption to keep on your radar if you're travelling this bank holiday weekend.

UK roads

The AA has issued an amber warning for the bank holiday weekend (Getty Images)

The AA has issued an amber traffic warning for Brits planning to travel by car this August bank holiday.

'Frantic Friday' kicks off the weekend where it's estimated that around 15 million cars will be hitting the roads. In fact, according to AA figures 45% of drivers will be on the road between Friday and Monday.Saturday is expected to be the worst day over the long weekend, with 10am-4pm due to be the busiest times to travel.

Hotspots include the M4/M5 near Bristol, the M5 between Taunton and Exeter, the M6/M42 at Birmingham, the M62 Liverpool to Manchester section, the M60, M56 and M25.

For those heading to London and planning to use public transport, you should take note that there will be a bus strike on Sunday and Monday.

Industrial action is expected to kick off at around 05:00 on Sunday 28 August. TFL has warned Brits of "disruption on some routes, mostly through west and southwest London, and parts of Surrey". The network also warns that other bus services and public transport "in the areas served by these buses are likely to be busier than usual".

Have you had a holiday ruined by travel chaos? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

Rail services

A number of rail services will be affected by planned engineering works between Saturday and Monday.

This includes routes with c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands, Great Northern, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, LNER, London Overground, Northern, ScotRail, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway.

National Rail has a guide on all the engineering works and disruptions expected for the bank holiday weekend here.

For those planning travel to/from Stansted Airport, the Stansted Express will not be running on Monday.

Meanwhile Avanti West Coast continues to advise that it has an amended service "until further notice" due to staff shortages.

As for industrial action, currently only Hull Trains is advising of strikes and walkouts, planned over the bank holiday weekend.

Airports and flights

Spain and Portugal are set to be affected by walkouts (PA)

There are no strikes currently planned at UK airports.

However, easyJet pilots in Spain are walking out between August 27-29. This means that those flying to/from Spain could face some disruption to their journey.

An easyJet spokesperson previously said of the industrial action: "easyJet has been formally advised of strike action by its Spain-based pilots union Sepla between 27-29 August at its Spanish bases and unfortunately, we have been required to cancel four flights to and from the UK this weekend, which we have made in advance to allow passengers to rebook.

"We would like to apologise to impacted customers for any inconvenience caused and are doing all possible to minimise any disruption as a result of the strike action, providing those affected with free transfers to alternative flights or a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required.”

easyJet pilots in Spain are walking out over the weekend (NurPhoto/PA Images)

"We advise customers travelling to and from Barcelona, Malaga and Palma to check the status of their flights on our Flight Tracker page or manage their bookings using our disruption portal on our mobile app or website."

Meanwhile in Portugal, members of union SINTAC will be walking out this weekend in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Workers from ground handler firm Portway are part of the walkouts, and the firm serves a number of Portugal's biggest airports.

The company previously shared a list of airlines that could be impacted by the walkouts including Aegean, Air Canada, Air Transat, American Airlines, blue air, Brussels Airlines, Cape Verde Airlines, easyJet, Euroatlantic, Eurowings, Finnair, Flyone, Latam, Luxair, Norwegian, APR, Transavia, Tunisair, Turkish Airlines, Volotea and Wizz Air.

The strike action is planned between August 26-28, and is expected to affect a number of Portugal's main airports.

Brits planning flights to destinations such as Lisbon, Porto, Faro should check their flight status direct with their airline if they're due to fly over the strike days, as there may be some delays and cancellations.

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