On the roads to popular holiday destinations, it is quite busy on Saturday. This is not only due to the usual holiday traffic, but also due to construction and bad weather in the Alpine countries.
On a Saturday during the holiday season, it is always busy on European roads, says a spokesperson for the ANWB to NU.nl. “Parts of Germany are now getting time off and vacation. The Netherlands too, so it’s busier.”
The ANWB sees traffic and delays at all the usual busy spots in Europe. For example, there is an hour of delay on the A7 between Lyon and Avignon on the well-known Route du Soleil in France. South of the German city of Munich towards Austria, the journey takes more than an hour longer.
There is also bad weather in the Alpine countries on Saturday. In Austria, the provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg are particularly affected by heavy rainfall. In Switzerland, it is the northeast of the country. The weather services expect up to 250 millimeters of rain on Saturday. It will continue to rain on Sunday and the days after.
That weather is causing significant delays, says the ANWB spokesperson. For example, around noon there is at least 2.5 hours of delay at the Swiss Gotthard Tunnel, which is mainly used by people traveling through to Italy. There is also an hour of delay at the Brenner Pass, a mountain pass on the border between Austria and Italy. This is due to holiday traffic, but also because work is being done on a viaduct.
Heavy rainfall in Croatia is also affecting traffic. There is an hour and a half of delay on the A1 between Zagreb and Karlovac. At the Karawanken Tunnel between Austria and Slovenia, the waiting time is an hour and a half in the eastbound direction and two hours in the other direction due to an accident.