4.5 million Brits are heading overseas this Christmas – and tomorrow is the busiest day for travel
Airports will be exceptionally busy, with Heathrow expecting 1.7 million departing passengers over the festive period
MORE than 4.5 million people are heading abroad over Christmas and the new year, with Friday expected to be the busiest day during the period from December 18 to January.
According to travel trade organisation Abta, France, Italy and Austria are the most popular destinations for holidaymakers wanting to enjoy snow.
Meanwhile, sun lovers are heading to the Canary Islands, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, while popular New Year's Eve breaks include New York, Amsterdam, Dublin and Barcelona.
Airports will be exceptionally busy, with Heathrow expecting 1.7 million departing passengers over the festive period.
More than one million will jet off from Gatwick, 525,000 from Stansted, 480,000 from Manchester and 330,000 from Luton.
Hundreds of thousands of passengers are also leaving from Scottish airports, with 226,000 passing through Edinburgh alone.
A significant number are also travelling across the English Channel by ferry or through the Channel Tunnel.
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "Christmas and new year are always a very busy time for the travel industry with people heading off for winter sun or guaranteed snow for a truly authentic Christmas experience.
"For many people the festive period is a really busy time of year, going away for Christmas or new year gives families and friends time to relax, safe in the knowledge that someone else is doing the hard work for them.
"The weather in the UK looks set to be mild over the holiday period, which should help avoid travel disruption, but the roads will be exceptionally busy."
He continued: "Customers should allow extra time to get to their departure port and check for line closures and engineering work if using public transport."
Railway shutdowns are expected to hit thousands of families over the Christmas holidays as trains across the country are set to grind to a halt.
London will be worst affected by planned engineering work that will effectively derail trains from Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Waterloo East and London Bridge stations from December 23 to New Year's Day.
Southeastern trains caught in the chaos will instead depart from Waterloo and Victoria stations over the period.
Great Western Railway trains leaving Paddington station between Christmas Eve and December 27 have been cancelled completely, affected the travel plans of those heading west over the festive break.
Elsewhere, further engineering works will frustrate the travel plans in the north of England.
In Manchester, Network Rail works on Christmas Eve will shutdown all lines between Piccadilly and Oxford Road station. And these will again be out of service from December 30 and New Year's Day.
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There will also be no service from Preston to Lancaster between Christmas Eve and December 27.
Caledonian Sleeper, Norther, TransPennine Express and Virgin Train lines will be affected by the widespread works.
Thousands of festive travellers are expected to bit affected by the disruptions, as students and workers head home for the holidays and shoppers hit the high streets for Boxing Day sales.