Around 10 million people are preparing to head off on an Easter holiday, new figures suggest.

Good Friday will be the busiest travel day as many people make the most of the long weekend.

Motorists are being urged to set off early or delay travel until Saturday to avoid the worst jams.

For those staying in the UK, the Met Office is predicting plenty of dry and sunny weather across the country.

Temperatures are expected to widely reach the low 20s and peak at 23C in the South.

Met Office chief meteorologist Steve Willington said: "With temperatures usually around 10-13C at this time of year, it's certainly going to be significantly warmer than average this Easter weekend and quite a contrast to the colder weather we have seen so far this month."

A survey of 1,258 people by tourist board VisitEngland indicates that 7.4 million have planned an overnight trip in the UK this weekend.

This is up from 4.8 million last year and is the most since the annual survey was launched in 2013.

Research by the RAC and Inrix suggests 4.4 million car journeys for leisure trips will be made on Good Friday.

This is expected to cause many major routes to be clogged, with the worst delays between 11am and 4.30pm.

The RAC predicts that the M25 anticlockwise from Orpington between Junctions 4 and 30.

Highways England said it will remove more than 450 miles of roadworks in time for the weekend, meaning 99% of motorways and major A-roads in England will be clear of cones.