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Millions of Brits could face travel disruption this Bank Holiday weekend due to congested roads, ongoing rail strikes, and planned engineering works. With weather charts suggesting a possibly bright weekend, several families have already made plans to soak up what could be the last of the long summer days.

However, the plans may fall flat due to multiple disruptions across the country. A strike by the RMT union, protesting over issues related to pay, safety, and staffing, threatens to impact CrossCountry rail services running from Aberdeen to Cornwall, potentially leaving many passengers stranded or facing delays. Meanwhile, the RAC has issued a warning about severe road congestion, especially on Friday, when an estimated three million getaway journeys are expected.

Motorists heading South-west should brace for particularly heavy traffic on the M5 between Bristol and Devon, a key route for holidaymakers.

The upcoming Bank Holiday weekend is expected to be one the busiest of the year, with major events drawing large crowds, including the Notting Hill Carnival in London, Reading and Leeds festivals, Belfast's Emerge festival, the final weekend of the Edinburgh Fringe, Creamfields in Cheshire, and the opening matches of the Women's Rugby World Cup.

Network Rail has urged passengers to check their journeys in advance due to strikes and engineering works. CrossCountry services will be suspended on Saturday, severing direct rail links between Birmingham and cities like Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham, reports BBC.

Sunday will see further cancellations and changes, even without industrial action, and Monday's strike will limit services to a narrow window between 08:00 and 6pm BST.

Key routes including those connecting Birmingham to Reading, the South Coast, Leicester, Cambridge, and Stansted Airport will be out of service, with only minimal trains running to the southwest and north of York.

LNER will also halt direct trains to London King's Cross on Sunday due to engineering works, and bus replacements will operate between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

In the West Midlands, similar works will see buses replacing trains from Birmingham New Street. Meanwhile, road travel is expected to surge, with the RAC predicting 17.6 million car journeys over the weekend. Peak congestion is forecast for Friday between 10am and 7pm, Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Monday between 11am and 6pm. The M5 between Bristol and Devon is likely to experience the worst delays, particularly between junctions 15 and 23.

Nick Mullender, the RAC's mobile servicing and repairs team leader, said: "We're expecting major roads to airports and coastal destinations to be extremely busy, especially the south-east and south-west regions which could end up bearing the brunt of most holiday hold-ups.

Anyone planning routes through these areas should set off as early as possible or be prepared to spend longer in traffic."

The M20 in Kent could also suffer afternoon hold-ups on Friday, from J7 near Maidstone to J3 westbound and J1 at Swanley to J5 at Aylesford eastbound.