Drive for London to Glasgow / Edinburgh
 

I want to drive from London up to Scotland in January with the family. What are the driving conditions like? Thanks in advance for any information provided.

"<i>What are the driving conditions like?</i>"

Well, that would depend on the weather and there is NO way to tell what that would be until a day or two before your drive.

How long do you plan for this drive? If you mean just going from London to Scotland - then the train or flying would be better.

London to Edinburgh takes a minimum of 8 hours straight driving w/o accounting for winter conditions, so about 10 hours when you factor in meal(s) -- and there are only about 7 hours of daylight at that time of year.

But if you mean to take several days for the drive to see things along the way--that makes sense though the weather can still be a problem.

It's not possible to predict driving conditions several months in advance.

Are you planning to drive straight (if so heed Janis' advice and take the train ro fly) or do you want to break up the trip and stop and sightsee along the way? If the latter, you still need to be prepared for at least the possibility of some very wintry conditions.

thanks janisj and taggie - we were planning to stop at places along the way so we will be doing the driving in stages

How long do you plan for this drive? How many days?

But in any case, there is no way to predict the conditions until January

If you refer to traffic then.....

The main issue is the day and the time of day you travel - I have done Ayrshire to London in 5.5 hours but I also also given up trying to do it and stayed with friends overnight becuase the traffic was so bad.

July/August and/or Sunday/Friday nights are nightmares.

Going south the M6 is the quietist road in Britain until you reach Kendal (The Lake District) after that the horror stories are Kendal to Preston, Warrington, Stoke, Wolverhampton, Birmingham and going into London.

Use the M40 and the M6 toll road. Do dream of using the M1 between London and Birmingham or the M6 through Birmingham.

If you were referring to the weather the only way of knowing is to look out the window of the car at the time.

This afternoon (M6 Dumfries to Lytham) we left sun in Penrith (85mph) and within 10 miles were in rain that was so hard 50 mph was insane.

That should give you an idea about judging the weather conditions. If you are worried about severe weather - I can never remember that route being closed due to snow or any other weather for that matter.

Mark meant to say <b> . Do NOT dream of using the M1 between London and Birmingham or the M6 through Birmingham </b>

I've no idea whether there's NEVER been a severe weather closure of the M40-based route (I came within inches of killing myself in an ice skid on it one cold January), but there are four crucial and counter-intuitive facts:
- Going by the east or west coats takes roughly the same amount of time, traffic conditions permitting
- Snow and harsh ice are rare in Britain, but tiny quantities can create unbelievable traffic disruption, especially in England.
- The west side of England gets consistently wetter and warmer weather, which is why Mark's right that January weather's generally more benign on the west.
- None of this is 100% (or even 1%) predictable, and it's perfectly possible the west route will be chaotic while the east route is clear as a bell on a given day. Don't assume in advance either route will be painless in Jan.

BUT: you want to stop off. The obvious places on the easterly route are York (half way) or a slight diversion to Stamford. Westerly in Jan: Oxford and Liverpool: the Lake District in Jan isn't to everyone's taste by on a bright wintry day can be glorious.

Thank you Flanner - as we are all aware, sometimes little things mean a lot!

I would add that the east "coat" is a far colder and takes longer to pack.

I would agree with Flanner on stop offs - York is a good bet but Liverpool as a suggestion shows degree of bias akin to asking John Pemberton what to drink on a hot day. The Lakes is chocolate box beautiful or a god awful place in January depending on the temperature. A smattering of snow leaves it looking the part. If it is 6oC you will have rain and when it rains, it rains its just dire - even Liverpool would look a good bet in this event.

Kirkby Lonsdale is a lovely little village with Englishy (Flanner would use the word quaint) pubs and around 15 minutes off the M6 at Lancaster.

"Kirkby Lonsdale is a lovely little village with Englishy (Flanner would use the word quaint) pubs and around 15 minutes off the M6 at Lancaster."

oooooh, don't mention the Q word!!

thank you very much for the advice

craigandleslee

The weather is not usually bad enough to stop you driving but last winter was severe for a few days. I attempted to get from Wolverhampton to Birmingham by car and turned back due to snow.

It's unlikley to happen again but I suggest travel insurance and a plan B.

Are you mad keen on driving? You could do the journey by train with stopping off points.