Biggest weekend brings traffic chaos

It's here - the weekend to beat them all. Londoners today began the longest, busiest, most extravagant holiday weekend they have ever known... and it started with a traffic jam.

Four days of Golden Jubilee celebration - not to mention a nationwide outbreak of World Cup fever - kicked off with predictions of travel mayhem as millions of people headed out of London by road, rail and air.

But as one great human tide surged out of the capital, another one flooded in as hundreds of thousands were expected to take part in the Jubilee festivities.

And with all the street parties, pop concerts, processions and general merry-making - not to mention the pubs opening early for England's opening match against Sweden - one thing was inevitable: a boom in the sales of hangover cures, as supermarkets stocked up with massive supplies of painkillers.

The weather is forecast to be equally traditional. It will be warm and sunny over the weekend, but by Monday showers and colder weather will be on the way.

Before the party came the gridlock. Transport companies expect the holiday to be as busy as the millennium as the long weekend combines with half-term to make it a perfect time to go away.

Road experts believe millions of people will get in their cars tonight, creating jams 50 per cent worse than any other bad Friday on the roads.

Airports are set to be bustling as 850,000 people fly out for the weekend, while another 20,000 will be heading for France on the Eurostar.

Denis Chick, from road analysts Traffic Master, said queues would be enormous. "Road congestion will be very bad from today, with hotspots around the M25 West sector, M4 and M1," he said. "We expect it to be around 50 per cent worse than a bad Friday evening with heavy traffic on the M4 as far as Swindon. Even tomorrow, traffic will be heavy from at least 8am as millions of vehicles set off."

Rail companies have also reported heavy bookings on trains. They expect 500,000 people to begin journeys out of London this afternoon. A Virgin spokeswoman said: "This is one of our busiest times of the year, similar to Christmas, and we strongly recommend people book seats early to ensure they get a place on the train."

The Association of British Travel Agents estimates that almost a million people will fly out on trips to the sun.

But while one crowd heads out of London to escape the Jubilee, another one will be heading in to take its place. "We are anticipating a reverse of the usual exodus from the capital with many heading for central London to view the celebrations first hand," said an RAC spokesman. Connex trains will bring in 80,000 people tomorrow, 200,000 people on Monday and almost a quarter of a million on Tuesday for the climax to the Jubilee party.

Jubilee organisers estimate that 250,000 people will attend tomorrow's classical Prom, rising to more than two million as celebrations continue at the weekend.

The Underground is expected to packed at the peak of the celebrations. Staff at Westminster Tube are predicting 75,000 passengers on Tuesday, compared with the normal 40,000 travellers.

Londoners wishing to leave town are being told to travel either very late tonight or tomorrow evening. The demand on trains is leading companies to warn that seats could sell out if not booked early, while those wishing to jet away should expect to pay premium prices for last-minute plane tickets.

The only sector not expecting to be overwhelmed is London hotels. They have reported very slow bookings because the rush of overseas tourists has failed to materialise. A spokesman for the British Hospitality Association said most visitors to London would be daytrippers.

"The police are expecting large crowds but most are coming for the day. Hoteliers have said it is very quiet as the business meetings and tourists which often book up will not be around. The number of people coming to London is still down on this time last year."

The great knees-up can only end in one way, of course: with a hangover. Increased sales of headache pills of all varieties, especially paracetamol and ibuprofen have been reported across supermarkets, with stores ordering more than five times the usual amount.

Beer sales have already topped the £3 million mark for the last week in some supermarkets and it is expected that if England does well in its opening match against Sweden on Sunday morning, the demand for medical intervention will increase.

Tesco spokesman Steve Gracey said: "We've already sold five times the amount of painkillers this week and are ordering the same amount every week to cope with the demand. It's a case of supply on demand for whatever people want and this includes painkillers."

Sainsbury's and Boots have also reported an increase in tablet sales and are ordering more stock daily.

Boots said there has been a "sharp" increase in sales of painkillers and other hangover-related products in the last fortnight.

Supermarkets have also seen rocketing demand for food, including 237,000 rashers of bacon, 166,000 sausages and two million eggs.

Less obviously Sainsbury's - which has called its weekend plans Operation Battle Beckham - has seen a 40 per cent increase in the sale of men's hair products, including hair streaking kits and gel. It has also seen sales of Becks beer and its Goldenballs cereal double.

Tesco, which has called its plan Operation Owen, has sold seven tonnes of chicken tikka masala, £1.2 million of beer and three million pizzas.

An increase in sales of sushi and other oriental dishes has been seen at Asda and Waitrose, which also report big demands for alarm clocks.

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