M25 Rush Hour?

[CatfishCKY]

I'm driving up to Kettering tomorrow and aim to be there at 12 midday at the latest, but need to pick up my friend from Stansted en-route.

I'm driving from Salisbury - what time does everyone reccomend i leave Salisbury so I don't get caught in rush hour? I've never had to do it before

[Big Rod]

About three hours ago!

[An Oasis]

Big Rod said:

About three hours ago!

LOL never a truer word spoken. North bound M6 was closed for most of today, oh the joys of running an event based company.

[CatfishCKY]

Awww don't say that
If I leave, say 5.30, would that be sufficient?

[Rocksteadyeddie]

The M25 from the M1 to the M11 is not usually that bad in the morning. Its the other way that's dreadful.





It is the M25 though so it'll still be arse

[CatfishCKY]

I think I'll be going A303, M4, M25 if that makes any difference?

[Planet Claire]

Traffic on a Friday morning isn't usually that bad, it's from the afternoon that it's horrendous.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Planet Claire said:

Traffic on a Friday morning isn't usually that bad, it's from the afternoon that it's horrendous.

Yep, from lunchtime onwards anything going away from London will be horrific.

[iva cosworth]

A303 leads onto M3 BTW

[CatfishCKY]

iva cosworth said:

A303 leads onto M3 BTW

Don't be pedantic - that's what I meant, silly!


Cool thanks for the help all, will be leaving Salisbury aroun 5.30 - 6am, hopefully that should do it!

[Larry Dickman]

If you leave at 5.30 you'll miss a lot of the rush hour traffic & you'll have loads of time, you'll be in Stansted by 8.30 & should be in Kettering by 10.00. That's my estimation with normal traffic & excludes motorway closures etc.

[CatfishCKY]

Sounds like a nice estimation to me! Let's hope it stays that way!

[driverrob]

Barring accidents (and they're more likely on Mondays or when it's raining), that section of the M3 is usually fairly quiet up to about 7 a.m.
M25 past Heathrow is bound to be slow. M25 clockwise at that time shouldn't be too bad but I've seen it nose to tale in all 3 lanes anti-clockwise in that section as early as 6:15.
Hope that helps

Oh, have you tried this: http://www.trafficengland.com/map.aspx?long0=-153.... Definitely worth checking before a journey.

Edited by driverrob on Thursday 9th September 22:49