PEOPLE planning to join the great festive getaway are being warned to expect busy roads and disrupted rail services.

Many Christmas travellers are heading off from today for the festive break, but major engineering projects mean rail passengers will face line closures, reduced services and buses replacing trains on a number of routes.

The Met Office is also forecasting unsettled weather for the region from today and spilling over the Christmas holiday, with wind and rain expected this afternoon and evening.

The RAC said on Christmas Eve an estimated 4.3 million vehicles will take to the roads, with 3.7 million on Christmas Day and 4.1 million on Boxing Day.

Traffic information company Inrix said the busiest time was likely to be from noon to 5pm today.

Inrix warned journey times could triple at the busiest festive time, with shopping areas particularly busy this weekend and on Friday, December 27.

For rail travellers, essential engineering work means the axing of all Gatwick Express services from Christmas Day to the end of New Year’s Day.

Road transport will replace trains through Peterborough on Friday, December 27, to allow work to remove a bottle neck on the East Coast Main Line.

Traditionally, no services run on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and the timing has been chosen to limit passenger disruption to a single day. The company will be running revised timetables between Monday, December 23, and Thursday, January 2.

Phil Verster, route managing director, Network Rail, said: “This Christmas marks an important change for all passengers who use the East Coast Main Line. We are installing a new signalling system at Peterborough which will help to make services more reliable.”