Traffic jams over the Easter holidays have resulted in “pretty scary” queues up to 20 miles long on major motorways as millions of people take to the roads.

It is estimated that 2.6 million cars will travel on Good Friday, with “significant” congestion already causing “severe” congestion around the M25 and south-west and south-east roads by lunchtime.

The RAC said holidaymakers heading south were the main cause of traffic congestion after weather forecasters predicted bright sunshine there over the next few days. Drivers are warned that journeys could take twice as long on some routes.

Queues stretching for 15 to 20 miles were formed on the M4 and M5 interchanges near Bristol, adding 45 minutes to journey times.

The west side of the M25 London Orbit motorway was described as “very bad” and “much worse than normal”, with queues lasting up to 40 minutes.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “Everyone is heading to Devon and Cornwall – that’s the attraction and the weather is better.

“That resulted in some pretty horrendous queues.”

The M20 in Kent is also busy, with congestion approaching Folkestone on the coast.

The A628 between Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire is also experiencing delays after two separate incidents, the National Highways Agency reported.

Around 11 million people in the UK are planning Easter overnight trips, which are expected to bring £3.2 billion to the UK economy, tourism board VisitEngland said.

A survey by the RAC and traffic analytics company Inrix showed there were around 14 million road journeys at the weekend.

Visitors to the Port of Dover have to wait two hours to pass.

Storm Nelson caused widespread disruption on Thursday, with near gale force winds recorded, causing delays to Dover’s DFDS ferry services due to strong winds across the English Channel.

Whitelink said ferries to the Isle of Wight were busy but ran on time.

On the railway, passengers faced line closures due to construction and unexpected chaos.

The West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes was announced months in advance as being closed for upgrades, and many people traveled later on Thursday to avoid the situation.

The main trans-Pennine route runs buses instead of trains between Manchester and Huddersfield.

Flooding between Newbury and Westbury damaged infrastructure and the Great Western Railway was forced to close its main line from London to Exeter.

Passengers traveling to London Stansted, the UK’s fourth busiest airport, are experiencing problems getting there as the Stansted Express line suffers “significant disruption”.

Airports reported higher numbers of flights between Friday and Monday, with 175,000 departing from Stansted, 105,000 from Luton, 160,000 from Manchester, 79,000 from Birmingham and 89,000 from Edinburgh .

Turkey, Dubai and the Canary Islands are popular destinations, as are trips to Dublin.

Storm Nelson brought gusts of up to 74mph on Thursday, and the Met Office issued a yellow warning for rain and wind, covering London and the southeast, southwest and east of England.

More than 170 flood warnings and warnings remain in place on Friday.

But Met Office experts predict temperatures will be higher over the Easter weekend than for most of the week.

Forecasters say Britons can expect rising temperatures over the bank holiday weekend, with maximums expected to reach 16C on Sunday.

Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Harris said: “After the widespread instability over the past few days, the weather is expected to gradually improve, with fairly typical spring-like weather across the UK.

“There will be some sunshine and as the winds get lighter it will feel warmer and warmer for most people.

“However, showers are also possible in the west, particularly in the south-west, which may be very heavy and frequent at times.”