There are ‘severe’ delays on the M4 near Newport following an accident. One lane was closed westbound between One lane was closed westbound between Junction 26 Malpas and Junction 27 High Cross.
The vehicles involved were quickly moved to the emergency lane, but traffic monitors are reporting serious delays in the area. Congestion returned to the Prince of Wales Bridge just after 4.15pm.
There are also delays around Swansea this afternoon following an earlier accident at Junction 42 Swansea East, with congestion back to Junction 43 at Llandarcy.
Roads in Wales are expected to be busy today at the start of the bank holiday weekend and the May holidays. More than 20 million leisure journeys by car are expected to be made this late May bank holiday as traffic returns to near pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to a new study by the RAC and INRIX into the breakout plans of motorists.
Analysis shows that Friday will be the worst travel day, when more than 4 million trips are planned, as for many British schools this is not only the start of the long weekend, but also the start of half term.
Figures from Traffic Wales have shown that traffic flows increased by around 20% over the spring weekend last year. 10% compared to a month earlier. The busiest day was Friday, when rush hours lasted about 10 to 20 minutes longer.
Traffic volumes look set to remain consistently high throughout the long weekend as 3.7 million journeys are expected to take place on Saturday 25 May, while 3.4 million journeys are expected on both Sunday and bank holiday Monday.
Thousands of people will also take over a Welsh farm this weekend as one of Wales’ biggest music events, In It Together Festival, returns. Warnings are already being issued of heavy traffic around the Margam junction of the M4 as people make their way to the site.
The Met Office forecast for Friday is a largely dry day. The forecast for Wales says: “There will be patches of rain starting, mainly in the north and west, but largely dry elsewhere during the day. Some brighter spells towards the afternoon, especially in the south where it will feel warmer. Lighter wind than Thursday. Maximum temperature 16 °C.”
17:26Ffion Lewis
Longer queues at festivals after delays yesterday
In It Together Festival has said there will be longer queues to get into the festival today following an incident on the M4 yesterday.
They posted:
“Due to yesterday’s unforeseen circumstances, we are experiencing heavy traffic at the entrance gates and longer queues. Please be patient with the team – we are working tirelessly to get everyone parked and through the entrance gates as quickly as possible.”
16:26Cathy Owen
Long delays on the M4
Delays on the M4 westbound have now returned to the Prince of Wales Bridge.
16:08Cathy Owen
Delays on Cardiff’s main route
There are reports of traffic congestion on one of the main routes out of Cardiff.
Police are at the scene on the A4232 near the Leckwith Interchange.
15:41Cathy Owen
Where the biggest delays will occur
Traffic is forecast to increase throughout the day on Friday, with transport analytics specialists INRIX advising motorists to delay their departure until 6pm to miss the worst of the queues when both commuters and casual drivers share the roads.
Across Britain, the M25, running clockwise between J7 for the M23 and J21 for the M1, is expected to be hardest hit by traffic, with those traveling on this route experiencing delays of more than one and a half hour.
15:12Cathy Owen
Monitors reporting ‘severe’ delays
The vehicles involved in that accident between Junction 26 Malpas and Junction 27 High Cross. have been moved to the emergency lane, but traffic monitors are reporting “severe” delays westbound.
The main delays can be traced back to J23A Magor Services. Traffic is also backed up on the other side because of the spectators.
15:07Cathy Owen
M4 accident near busy Newport junction
An accident occurred on the M4 near Newport this afternoon.
One lane is closed westbound between Junction 26 Malpas and Junction 27 High Cross.
Congestion on the approach.
14:48Cathy Owen
Highway reopened after accident
All lanes have now reopened following the accident on the M4 near Swansea.
Major traffic congestion remains.
14:27Cathy Owen
Long delays remain after the accident
There are still long delays and one lane closed following the accident on the M4 eastbound at Junction 42 Briton Ferry.
Lane one (of the two) remains closed. Just before 1:40 p.m., all traffic was backed up for several minutes. Traffic is also backed up on the other side because of the spectators.
1:00 PMCathy Owen
Accident causes delays in Swansea
An accident is causing delays on the M4 near Swansea this afternoon.
One lane is closed eastbound at Junction 42 Swansea East. There is congestion again at junction 43 at Llandarcy.
Traffic is also backed up on the other side because of the spectators.
12:32Cathy Owen
Changing tires causes delays
There are some delays on the M4 in Monmouthshire.
A vehicle undergoes a tire change on the eastbound carriageway between Junction 23 Magor and the Prince of Wales Bridge.
12:25Cathy Owen
M4 congestion warning
Traffic monitors report slow traffic on the M4 eastbound from Junction 42 Briton Ferry to Junction 40 Port Talbot.
Traffic congestion is expected in the area as people arrive at the In It Together festival in Margam Park.
11:54Cathy Owen
Slow traffic on the M4
Traffic monitors and cameras show heavy westbound traffic at the Brynglas tunnels on the M4 near Newport.
Travel time in the area is approximately 10 minutes.
11:19Cathy Owen
Delays in the trains
Holiday journeys on a major train route are being disrupted due to an attempted theft of signal cables.
National Rail Inquiries said trains should run at reduced speeds between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton until damaged cables are repaired.
Meanwhile, a switch failure prevents trains from visiting stations between those locations.
The issues affect passengers traveling on Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, London Northwestern Railway, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway.
Many train services will also be affected this weekend as Network Rail carries out engineering projects.
10:44Cathy Owen
Expect the busiest times today
Traffic Wales, which monitors the main routes across the network, has put together a number of graphs showing when the busiest times are expected.
10:31Cathy Owen
Queues on the way to the festival
Traffic monitoring system Inrix shows there are already queues heading into the In It Together Festival which starts today.
There is traffic congestion on the A48 at Pyle westbound near the Margam Park location.