About 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 Celsius 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.”

Travel trade association Abta expects 2.1 million British holidaymakers to head overseas this weekend, with strong demand reported for destinations including Spain, Turkey and Egypt.

Airports, ferry terminals and the Channel Tunnel will be extremely busy.

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “Easter is always one of the most popular times of year for travel and over the long weekend millions of holidaymakers will be taking either an overseas or a domestic break.

“The fact that Easter falls so late this year means that there is a good range of short-haul destinations, offering good temperatures and guaranteed sunshine.

“As always on a busy bank holiday, leave plenty of time to get to your departure port and check for engineering work and line closures if using public transport.”

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