The UK Highways Agency said it will have completed a number of roadworks and will be suspending others before motorists set out over the bank holiday weekend. The agency also confirmed that it would be removing many lane restrictions and temporary speed limits; although not in areas where doing so would be a risk for motorists.

Philip Hammond, Transport Secretary, said 98 per cent of the UK’s road network will be free of roadworks at a time when the roads become extremely busy. He added that the Highway Agency would continue to supply a wide range of travel information to those intending to set out in their vehicle over the long weekend.

He went on to say that there will be traffic officers patrolling the road network ready to help out should there be an incident. According to the Agency, some 280 miles of roadworks were due to be completed in time for the August break and 64 miles of ongoing work will be suspended, not to be resumed until Tuesday at the earliest.

Motorists heading for the South West earlier did not have a great start to their weekends because of a pile-up on the M5, near Exeter. Although no fatalities were reported, seven people involved in the incident had to be airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.

Notoriously unpredictable, the weather for the weekend is supposed to be mostly fine with some parts of the country experiencing the odd light shower. Temperatures for Monday look like being in the high ‘teens.