The great British summer getaway is about to officially begin as parents head off with children finishing school for the six weeks’ holiday.

But drivers thinking they can beat the inevitable congestion on the motorways by setting off in the middle of the night are being warned they face delays and roadworks.

The Highways Agency is carrying out roadworks at night when it is less busy but it means a section of the M5 south of Worcester will be down to just a single lane.

Slip roads are also being resurfaced near Walsall and Spaghetti Junction at Birmingham.

The AA said jams were likely from Friday lunchtime, with around 14 million cars expected on the roads.

It warned of delays on the M6 between Junction 11A through Staffordshire and the northbound stretch to Lancashire.

And road safety minister Mike Penning urged drivers to check traffic conditions before setting off.

“For many people this will be the longest car journey of the year, often on an unfamiliar route,” he said. For this year’s getaway, drivers on the M6 will get the benefit of the £150m hard shoulder running scheme, which allows for a fourth lane of the motorway to be opened during busy periods. Cars will also have to travel at variable speed limits.

The scheme took two years to complete and roadworks to create it added to the delays between junctions 8 at Wednesbury and 10A at Wolverhampton last year.

In total, more than 22 miles of motorway in the region now have hard shoulder running – and it is being extended in the area and nationally. Highways bosses said that accidents had more than halved since hard shoulder running was introduced on 10-and-a-half miles of the M42 from Junction 3A to Junction 7, to the east of Birmingham in 2006.

Birmingham Airport was expecting a busy weekend with 131,050 people booked to fly. Tomorrow is the busiest day with 34,000 people expected through the doors.
Friends

Popular summer destinations include the Balearics, Canaries, Turkey, Dubai, Montego Bay in Jamaica and the likes of Dublin and Cork as people visit family and friends.

Train services will be largely unaffected in the West Midlands with only a few minor diversions for engineering work.

Meanwhile, a survey by Confused.com showed motorists reckoned slow drivers were the biggest frustration for road users.

The poll, of 2,000 motorists, also showed nearly half of UK drivers attempt unsafe overtaking to pass slow-moving vehicles.

As many as 37 per cent said minimum speed limits should be imposed on all roads, while 15 per cent wanted slow drivers to only be allowed to drive at certain times.

Roadworks and changes to train services

M6 Junction 10 at Walsall – exit slip road on southbound side closed 9pm to 5.30am tonight until Sunday

M6 Junction 6 at Spaghetti Junction – link roads closed 8pm to 6am until August 15

M6 Junction 15 at Stoke-on-Trent – slip roads closed 10pm tonight to 6am tomorrow

M5 Junction 3 at Halesowen – southbound entry slip road closed 10pm tonight to 6am tomorrow

M5 Junction 7 at Worcester south – two lanes of the route to Junction 8 closed 9pm to 5am until Saturday

A40 at Whitchurch – westbound exit slip road shut 10pm to 4am tonight and tomorrow and eastbound side shut Friday to Saturday

Virgin Trains 10.45pm Wolverhampton to London Euston not calling at Northampton. Replacement bus from Rugby tonight

Arriva Trains Wales services at 9.09pm from Birmingham International to Manchester Piccadilly diverted via Crewe tonight