The RAC reckons the August bank holiday weekend will be the busiest in nine years with an estimated 19.2m leisure journeys by car as drivers go ‘day trip crazy’.

Saturday 24 August is set to be the busiest on the roads with 3.7m getaway trips planned, slightly ahead of the 3m journeys planned every day on Friday (3.2m), Sunday (3.1m) and Bank Holiday Monday (3m).

Additionally, a massive 6.2m trips are planned at some point over the last long summer weekend of the year, with drivers undecided exactly when they’ll travel.

The 19.2m figure is the highest number of ‘getaway’ trips predicted for the August Bank Holiday since the RAC began recording data for this weekend in 2015.

The RAC’s research also found an overwhelming majority of journeys will be day trips, with 84% of respondents saying they will be using their car for days out.

Just 10% of drivers say they will be setting off on holiday in the UK or abroad and 6% will be returning home from a staycation or a foreign holiday.

Transport analytics specialists INRIX expect delays to last all day on both Friday 23 and Saturday 24 August, with the worst times to travel between 10am and 6pm on Friday and 10am and 1pm on Saturday.

Drivers are advised to make journeys on Friday evening after 6pm when the worst of the commuter traffic is over, or after 2pm on Saturday following the lunchtime rush.

“Seaside resorts, airports and theme parks are likely to be amongst some of the most popular destinations, along with attractions such as Leeds Festival, and routes in Kent will also be busier as people head to Europe via the ports for some last-minute sun,” said National Network manager at National Highways Dale Hipkiss.