The first weekend of August is historically a busy one on European roads, especially in France. On Saturday, at the height of the so-called "Black Saturday", more than 1,000 kilometres of traffic jams were recorded.
While last weekend was less busy than expected – around 730 kilometres (km) of traffic jams were recorded – mobility organisation VAB already confirmed today (Saturday 3 August) would be what it refers to as a "Black Saturday" on French roads.
It warned motorists travelling through Belgium's neighbouring country that they could face major delays to their road travel plans. Just before noon, its predictions were already materialising, as it already recorded almost 1,000 km of traffic jams on French roads.
By the peak moment of the day, around 12:20, this figure rose to 1,054 km. That is almost 100 kilometres more than the same Saturday last year and 300 kilometres more than last weekend.
"Today is effectively a pitch-black Saturday, and we are nearing breaking records," spokesperson Mich Vergauwen said. It marks the first time this year that the 1,000-kilometre mark is exceeded.
Traffic jams piling up
As early as 08:00 on Saturday morning, VAB already recorded 200 km of traffic jams. "This is exceptionally busy. At this time last weekend, for example, we saw less than 100 km."
By 09:00, traffic jams on French roads were already 267 km long in total. "Again, this is exceptional! Last weekend, the counter was at 160 km, while during the busiest Black Sunday last year, we were now at 220 km," Vergauwen said.
This amount almost doubled to 500 km one hour later, surpassing the traffic last weekend (250 km) and higher than the busiest day last year (when 460 km was recorded at this time).
Just before 12:00, 950 km of traffic jams were recorded, up from 730 km this time last weekend. Overall, the A7 or the 'Autoroute du Soleil' was the busiest. "We are seeing no less than 165 km of traffic jams here," Vergauwen said. "Between Vienne and Valence, you lose three hours." In the other direction, returning holiday traffic also caused more than one hour of queuing.
On the A9 towards the Spanish border and the A10 between Paris and Bordeaux, drivers faced a 2.5-hour delay.
The St Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland (a major pass in the Alps), as well as the Mont Blanc (in France), Karawanks and Tauern tunnels (both in Austria), also saw heavy traffic jams. Heavy traffic was also expected in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Germany throughout the weekend, albeit to a lesser extent than in France.
