This Saturday is set to be the busiest traffic day of the summer holidays

This weekend will see incredibly heavy traffic as the end of the school term kicks off the summer getaway.

RAC Traffic Watch predicts that this Saturday will see the most congestion with about 2.8 million cars hitting the road and making 3.4 million journeys. Its analysis of 3,176 motorists’ plans suggest more than nine million journeys will take place between Friday and Sunday.

This weekend marks the beginning of the six-week summer holiday for schools, with research suggesting that as many as 36.5 million leisure journeys could take place in the 17 days from Friday July 21.

RAC traffic spokesman Rod Dennis said: “This weekend will bring unwelcome customary chaos to Britain’s major roads as people flock to take advantage of the first week or two of the summer holidays on home soil.”

Those who regularly travel on major arterial routes will not welcome his prediction that these roads could see heavier traffic over the next six weeks, “never more so than at the weekend with traffic toing and froing from major holiday locations”.

He said: “Sadly, for many the very much-needed family summer holiday might begin stressfully as long tailbacks are inevitable, particularly in the South West on the M5 which is the main conduit to the beaches of Devon and Cornwall – although for drivers heading into Cornwall the opening of a new stretch of dual carriageway on the A30 west of Temple should give some relief to the queues.”

It is predicted that 11am to 4pm will be the worst times to travel on Saturday and Sunday, with Friday’s peak taking place between 1pm and 8pm.

In separate research carried out by dashcam company VisionTrack, it was discovered that this Saturday will be the most dangerous day to drive this year. It predicted 2pm to be the time you’re most likely to have a crash in Britain with holiday traffic in “full flow”.