Christmas traffic 2022: Travel warnings and road closures across Merseyside this Christmas

As well as changes to bus and train services across Merseyside, there are several road closures that may affect travel this Christmas.

With rail strikes in place, the AA have issued an amber traffic warning for December 23 and 24, estimating that 17 million drivers are expected to be travelling up and down the country ahead of Christmas Day.

In the North of England, delays are expected in Cumbria on the M6 interchange with the A69, M62/M60 junctions around Manchester and the A64 between Leeds and York.

The AA believe that the build up of traffic will begin at 10am on December 23 and will continue until 6pm. On Christmas Eve, they predict congestion will be the worst between 10am and 4pm.

Christmas travel: Merseyside road closures

• M53, from 8pm December 5 2022 to 6am March 21 2023, moderate delays (10-30 minutes): M53 northbound, junction 2 to A59 - carriageway closure due to local authority works.

• M62, from 11pm December 22 to 5am December 23, slight delays (under 10 minutes): M62 eastbound and westbound, jct seven - eight lane closures due to barrier repairs.

• M62, from 11pm December 23 to 5am December 25, slight delays (under 10 minutes): M62 eastbound and westbound, jct seven - eight lane closures due to barrier repairs.

• M62, from 8pm December 25 to 5am December 27, slight delays (under 10 minutes): M62 eastbound and westbound, jct seven - eight lane closures due to barrier repairs.

National Highways Customer Service Director, Andrew Butterfield said: “We don’t want roadworks to spoil Christmas, so we’re doing everything we can to make journeys as smooth as possible; that’s why we’re keeping almost 98% of the road network we manage free from roadworks.”