Travel planning near Christmas?

CaveDweller

CaveDweller

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Going to visit family over Xmas in south Wales and just wondering where the best places would be to check weather/road reports for the journey. I'll be leaving from Aviemore and I know the local sites to check road conditions around here, but just wondering about down south because I know yous don't take too kindly to snow ;):p if there will be any that is.

My journey would be:

Leaving Aviemore A9 to Sterling
M80/73 to Glasgow
M/A74 to Carlisle
M6 to Birminham
M5 Worcester
M50 to Newport
M4 to Cardiff

If there is bad weather down south come next week, would you say it would be better to carry along the M5 to Bristol and take the toll road over the bridge on the M4 rather than going through Worcester and Monmouthshire? Or are motorways more likely to get closed with snow/bad weather?

Also where would be the best places to check for accurate road conditions for the journey? The last thing I want is to get stuck with a car full of kids and dogs because people are too scared to drive in a bit of snow and start ditching their cars. i'll be doing the journey over night in one go. Leaving at 10pm, hoping to make it to south Wales by 8am. I've done it in a lot less time than that no problem before, but not with bad weather apparently "coming our way".

Cheers.
 
Ah! Dogs... Makes what I was going to suggest redundant! (Fly from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Cardiff then hire a car.)

I would think that the AA or RAC would have decent and reliable travel news and that motorways would be clearer of snow than A roads. BUT, I'm a southerner and road closures are few and far between down here (apart from routes over the moors that get blocked by 4x4s thinking they'll be able to get back up the hills however slippery the roads have become...)
 
I'd advise steering clear of the toll bridges if the weather takes a turn for the worse.
A strong sneeze is enough to see the 'old bridge' (M48 / Chepstow) closed and if there are high winds, ice etc it's likely that the second Severn Crossing (M4) will close too.
Last time there were severe freezing temperatures there were 3 foot icicles plummeting from the top of the bridge onto the carriageway!!!

I did a daily commute Cardiff to Bristol for almost 2 years <shudder> NEVER AGAIN !!!
I dread to think how many hours I've wasted on that stretch of M4.
 
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Nod said:
Ah! Dogs... Makes what I was going to suggest redundant! (Fly from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Cardiff then hire a car.)

I would think that the AA or RAC would have decent and reliable travel news and that motorways would be clearer of snow than A roads. BUT, I'm a southerner and road closures are few and far between down here (apart from routes over the moors that get blocked by 4x4s thinking they'll be able to get back up the hills however slippery the roads have become...)
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Thanks, but my dogs are like my kids, they go everywhere with me lol. I have flown before but I had my boss look after them. He's just had an operation so I don't want to burden him with Border Collies :rolleyes: Plus the drive doesn't bother me, it's the other idiots on the road.

SarahLee said:
I'd advise steering clear of the toll bridges if the weather takes a turn for the worse.
A strong sneeze is enough to see the 'old bridge' (M48 / Chepstow) closed and if there are high winds, ice etc it's likely that the second Severn Crossing (M4) will close too.
Last time there were severe freezing temperatures there were 3 foot icicles plummeting from the top of the bridge onto the carriageway!!!

I did a daily commute Cardiff to Bristol for almost 2 years <shudder> NEVER AGAIN !!!
I dread to think how many hours I've wasted on that stretch of M4.
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Good point about the bridge, completely forgot about high winds or ice. The Kessock bridge in Inverness is bad enough on a good day and it's half the size of the Severn.
 
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CaveDweller said:
Good point about the bridge, completely forgot about high winds or ice. The Kessock bridge in Inverness is bad enough on a good day and it's half the size of the Severn.
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To be fair the second crossing is much better than the old one.
Even though it spans a wider stretch of the Severn it's a much more modern design and far more stable, but neither are particularly great if the weather turns.

If it's not too windy and the temperature stays above freezing you should be fine and I think that way would probably be easier than the Monmouthshire route. Once the schools have broken up for Christmas, even on a weekday between 07:00 and 09:00 that stretch tends to be fairly clear.

If you get caught out with bridge closures though, you'll be re-routed back up to Gloucester and around that way, which is a pig of a journey even without kids and dogs in the car.
 
SarahLee said:
To be fair the second crossing is much better than the old one.
Even though it spans a wider stretch of the Severn it's a much more modern design and far more stable, but neither are particularly great if the weather turns.

If it's not too windy and the temperature stays above freezing you should be fine and I think that way would probably be easier than the Monmouthshire route. Once the schools have broken up for Christmas, even on a weekday between 07:00 and 09:00 that stretch tends to be fairly clear.

If you get caught out with bridge closures though, you'll be re-routed back up to Gloucester and around that way, which is a pig of a journey even without kids and dogs in the car.
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I'll just have to see what it's like nearer the time. I've gone all ways possible to and from south Wales so I'll have to plan around the weather, if it does actually get bad that is.
 
I remember driving from Derby to Kent about 15 years ago on Christmas Eve, and the traffic on the opposide side of the M25 was stationary from the M1 right around to beyond where I left the M25 for the A2.
That's got to be 40-odd miles of stationary traffic caused by nothing but "sheer weight of traffic".
Oddly clockwise was ok!!
 
BBR said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/travel

Also Google maps will give directions and include current traffic conditions.
M6 is still a pig around Birmingham, maybe worth using the M6 toll road. I would stick to the motorways, they are most likely to be salted.
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Cheers. What's happening with the M6 at Birmingham?

viv1969 said:
I remember driving from Derby to Kent about 15 years ago on Christmas Eve, and the traffic on the opposide side of the M25 was stationary from the M1 right around to beyond where I left the M25 for the A2.
That's got to be 40-odd miles of stationary traffic caused by nothing but "sheer weight of traffic".
Oddly clockwise was ok!!
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Also when there's that much traffic just one car can set off massive tail backs. It's strange how such massive chain reactions can be cause if one person was to slam their brakes on lol. Watched something similar on Mythbusters. They did an experiment about it and everyone got caught in their own traffic jam:ROFLMAO:
 
Down here in Kent and probably elsewhere you only need half inch of snow for everything to come to a stand still.
 
PaulinW. H said:
Down here in Kent and probably elsewhere you only need half inch of snow for everything to come to a stand still.
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In 15 years In Kent I've only missed 2 days from work due to snow., and I have a 30 mile each way commute.
 
I've driven on M5 in snow and hailstorm conditions. The inside lane is all yours to do 70mph as long as you have winter tyres :) You need to worry more about black ice and plonker behind you at the lights in town.
 
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