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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePlan in two passes: first check planned closures for your route and travel date, then check live incidents and traffic immediately before leaving. In England, start with GOV.UK’s traffic-information service and National Highways’ road closure report; use Traffic Scotland for Scotland and Traffic Wales for Wales. Match the service to the road and nation you will actually travel through, allow contingency time when arrival matters, and follow a signed official diversion rather than replacing it with an unverified satnav shortcut.
Start with the authority that covers your route
UK traffic information is not one nationwide feed for every road. GOV.UK separates live information for England’s motorways and A roads from the national services for Scotland and Wales. It also points drivers toward current and planned roadworks information. Use the service for the nation and road class on your journey, then supplement it with a route-based traffic view.
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| Where you are driving | First check | What it is useful for | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| England: motorways and major A roads | GOV.UK traffic information, then National Highways live services and the road closure report | Planned closures, current conditions and incidents on the strategic road network | An England-focused service does not describe every local road or all UK roads. |
| Scotland | Traffic Scotland, reached from the GOV.UK traffic-information page | National information for Scottish routes | Check local-authority information as well if your route leaves the national network. |
| Wales | Traffic Wales, reached from the GOV.UK traffic-information page | National information for Welsh routes | Local roads may require a separate council or operator update. |
| Any route crossing several nations | Check each national service for the relevant section, plus a route planner | Combines national coverage with a journey-level view | Different services can update on different schedules. |
The GOV.UK starting point is Get traffic information to plan your journey. It is a selector for the appropriate national information, not a guarantee that one map contains every temporary restriction.
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Planned works are the predictable part of a roadworks journey, but they can still catch drivers who look only at current traffic. Open the National Highways road closure report for England’s strategic road network and search for the roads and date on your itinerary.
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Read the date and time window, not just the road number
The report lists planned full closures by date. National Highways says closures generally run from 8pm to 6am unless a closure lasts more than 12 hours. That means an early-morning trip can be affected by work that began the previous evening. A departure at 5:30am should be checked against the closure that started at 8pm the night before, not only against entries labelled with the morning’s date.
Record the affected carriageway, junctions or named section, the start and end times, and whether the notice describes a full closure or another restriction. A closure that ends shortly before you leave can still leave a queue or a delayed reopening; do not treat the scheduled end as proof that the road will be moving normally at that minute.
Treat the schedule as changeable
The report states: “This information is correct at the time of publication, but is subject to change at short notice, especially in periods of poor weather.” Its displayed last-update date during the October 2026 check was 12 October 2026. National Highways describes this report as being updated twice daily from Monday to Friday, except bank holidays, with weekend updates made on the previous working day. That cadence applies to this report; it is not a promise that every traffic service refreshes at the same interval.
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Use the date shown on the page as a freshness check. If your trip is several days away, note the planned work but schedule another check on the day of travel. If weather is deteriorating, recheck again close to departure because overnight work and reopening times can change.
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Check live conditions as well as planned work
A route with no scheduled closure can still lose time to an accident, congestion, temporary traffic lights or an unplanned incident. The National Highways live-information services distribute current traffic and future-event information, while the RAC traffic service describes route-based reports covering roadworks, temporary traffic lights, accidents and traffic flow.
For a journey-level view, use the RAC traffic news and route planner to inspect a map, driving directions and reported conditions along the proposed route. It is an additional information channel, not evidence that it is more accurate or more current than an official road operator. Compare what it shows with the relevant national or National Highways source, especially when the reports conflict.
Use a two-pass check
- Planned pass: identify scheduled closures and restrictions for every major road and the exact travel date.
- Live pass: shortly before leaving, check incidents, queues, temporary signals and traffic flow on the route and around likely approaches.
- Decision pass: compare the latest conditions with your departure time and arrival deadline. If the route is open but a serious incident is developing, choose a different road or leave later only after checking that the alternative is suitable.
Do not assume that a clear planned-works list means the journey is clear. Planned and live information answer different questions and belong in the same pre-departure routine.
Build a route plan that can absorb a delay
Map the primary route and its pressure points
Write down the major roads, junctions, tunnels, bridges and urban approaches on your route. A roadworks notice may affect a short section, but the queue can extend upstream and make a normally reliable interchange the real bottleneck. Check the route planner’s directions against the official notices rather than relying on a single estimated arrival time.
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Compare alternatives before you need one
Choose at least one plausible alternative before departure, then check it for its own closures, weight or height restrictions, narrow sections and likely congestion. An alternative is useful only if it can carry your vehicle and does not simply move the delay onto a local road. For a van, coach or other large vehicle, check clearances and restrictions rather than accepting the shortest line on a map.
Allow contingency time without inventing an official number
Official sources in this material do not set a universal number of extra minutes for roadworks. The practical conclusion is to add a buffer appropriate to the consequence of being late: more for a timed appointment, airport check-in or site delivery than for a flexible trip. Base the buffer on the closure window, the live queue and the importance of your arrival, and tell anyone expecting you that the time is an estimate.
Plan safe places to reassess
Decide where you can legally and safely stop before a diversion or major junction to review conditions. Never type into a phone while moving. If a passenger is present, let that person check the update; otherwise pull into a permitted rest area or service station. A last-second lane change to chase a map estimate can create a greater risk than the original delay.
Understand the information channels and their limits
| Channel | Primary coverage | Planned works | Live incidents and flow | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK traffic-information page | UK signposting, with separate national services | Points to the relevant sources | Points to the relevant sources | Choose the right national authority before checking details. |
| National Highways road closure report | England’s strategic road network | Yes; planned full closures by date | Not a complete substitute for live incident services | Check whether scheduled work overlaps your journey. |
| National Highways live services | National Highways roads in England | Future events may be distributed through its channels | Yes | Check current conditions on major English routes. |
| Traffic Scotland or Traffic Wales | The respective national network | Use the service’s own current information | Use the service’s own current information | Cover Scottish or Welsh sections that an England-focused report does not. |
| RAC route planner and traffic news | Route-based journey view | Reports roadworks | Reports temporary traffic lights, accidents and traffic flow | See how reported conditions affect a complete route and its directions. |
These channels are complementary, not interchangeable. A route planner can help you see the journey as a whole, while the operator’s closure notice supplies the date and restriction details. Where the two disagree, prefer the current notice from the authority responsible for that road and allow time to verify the situation safely.
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What to do when a closure is active
Follow the signed official diversion
When a road is closed, follow the diversion signs installed for that closure. National Highways says designated routes are selected with local experts and highway authorities, taking account of factors such as congestion and low bridges. The signed route may initially appear to move away from your destination or even double back; that does not mean it is wrong.
National Highways’ A3 Hindhead tunnel guidance gives the specific instruction not to substitute a satnav route for a signed diversion. It explains that unsuitable alternatives can burden local roads or trap larger vehicles. The same logic is especially important for drivers of commercial vehicles, caravans and high-sided vehicles. The Hindhead page states: “We carefully plan diversion routes to ensure they can cope with the high traffic levels and agree them with local authorities and the emergency services.” Read the A3 Hindhead tunnel advice for drivers for that tunnel’s particular arrangement; it is not a claim that every closure has identical signage or geometry.
Know why the signed route may be longer
Engineered diversion routes are chosen for capacity, safety and vehicle suitability, not merely for the shortest distance. A map application that cuts through a village can look faster while creating congestion, meeting restrictions or an unsafe turn. Stay on the signed route until signs direct you back to the main road. If signs are missing, contradictory or unsafe, slow down, avoid improvising a dangerous manoeuvre and use the next safe stopping place to obtain an official update.
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Put the diversion figures in context
National Highways reports around 2,700 pre-planned, pre-designated diversion routes covering 98% of its network, described as emergency-use routes. It also reports more than 300 pre-planned “intelligent” diversion routes across the South East, Yorkshire and the North East of England, designed to improve information at decision points and reduce disruption. These are figures reported on National Highways’ customer-service page, not an independent measurement of delay reduction, and the page does not show a publication year. See Making a difference for our customers for the stated scope.
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A practical timetable for your journey
Several days before departure
- Confirm the nations and major roads on your route.
- Open the relevant national traffic-information service from GOV.UK.
- Read the National Highways closure report if you will use England’s strategic network.
- Note every closure that overlaps your travel date, including work beginning the previous evening.
- Sketch a suitable alternative and check its restrictions before you need it.
The evening before
- Recheck the closure report and the route planner.
- Look for changed dates, extended work, weather warnings and reported incidents.
- Adjust the departure time or tell the receiving person that your arrival window may move.
Shortly before leaving
- Run the live pass for the entire route, not only the first junction.
- Check approaches to the planned works, because a queue can begin before the signed closure point.
- Confirm that the alternative still has no new restriction.
- Save or note the official diversion instructions so you are not dependent on a weak signal at the closure.
- Set navigation before moving and put the phone out of reach.
At the first sign of a problem
- Reduce speed and obey lane-control signs, cones and temporary signals.
- Do not enter a closed lane to save time or follow a vehicle through a restriction.
- Follow the signed diversion if the road is closed.
- Only reassess at a safe stopping location; do not make a sudden turn because an app has recalculated.
Common planning mistakes and their fixes
Checking only an app’s arrival time
An estimated arrival time is not a closure notice. Fix it by checking the operator’s planned-works information first, then using live traffic data to refine the estimate.
Searching only the day’s date
Because many overnight closures begin at 8pm, an early trip can be affected by the previous evening’s entry. Search the surrounding evening and morning window.
Assuming a national page covers every road
England’s strategic-road information does not describe every local street, and it does not replace Traffic Scotland or Traffic Wales for those networks. Select the service by geography and road owner.
Taking an unsignposted shortcut around a closure
A satnav may choose a road with a low bridge, unsuitable width or insufficient capacity. Follow the official signs and use the planned route unless a road authority directs otherwise.
Leaving no time to recheck
Schedules can change at short notice, particularly in poor weather. Make the final check part of the departure routine rather than treating a check made days earlier as final.
Presenting a buffer as a guarantee
No source here promises zero delay or specifies a universal buffer. Treat any extra time as your own risk decision, based on the journey’s consequences and the latest conditions.
Decision guide: leave, reroute or delay
- Planned closure overlaps your route and no suitable signed alternative is available: change the departure time or use a verified alternative before setting off.
- The road is open but live traffic is building: compare the delay with the alternative’s own reports, restrictions and capacity; do not switch merely because it looks shorter on a map.
- The road is closed after you have started: obey signs and follow the official diversion, even if navigation proposes another road.
- Information conflicts or is stale: stop safely and consult the responsible road authority’s current service. Do not infer that an old closure notice has ended.
- Your arrival is time-critical: contact the recipient early, explain the roadworks risk and preserve a larger contingency than you would for a flexible journey.
What this approach can and cannot prevent
Checking both planned and live information can expose a closure, incident or queue before you reach it and can help you choose a more realistic departure time. It cannot predict every collision, weather-related change or late reopening, and no service guarantees a delay-free journey. The useful outcome is a better-informed decision: the right authority, the right date, a route that suits your vehicle and a safe response when conditions change.
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