Today is expected to be the busiest day on Britain's roads so far this year as millions of people set off for their Easter break, with Cornwall and Devon a hotspot for traffic congestion.

Trafficmaster predicts bank holiday getaway journeys mixed with commuter traffic today will lead to the heaviest congestion of the weekend.

As many as 16 million cars will be on the move over the holiday. Drivers have been urged to consider delaying their journey until the afternoon of Good Friday, when traffic is expected to be relatively quiet.

There is also expected to be disruption on the railways due to an extensive programme of engineering works over the weekend.

A poll from VisitEngland showed that around 3.4 million Britons are set to take an Easter break in the UK involving at least one overnight stay, providing an £800 million boost for the UK economy.

Around 6.5 million Britons are planning day trips over the holiday period, with a further 9% undecided whether to have a break involving an overnight stay, the survey revealed.

Tomorrow is forecast to bring the best weather of the Easter break, with dry and sunny skies across the UK.

Bill Payne, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: "Although today will be very warm, with highs of 18 degrees, it will turn cloudier throughout the day.

"It means Easter Friday will be the nicest day of the Easter break - although a little cooler, it will be dry and bright everywhere.

"There will be a few showers around on Saturday but the weather really changes on Easter Sunday and becomes quite unsettled. There will be some heavy rain in England and Wales with showers lasting into Monday.

An estimated 1.6 million Britons are heading abroad for the holiday.

Over the Easter weekend, 370,000 passengers will leave from Heathrow Airport, 200,000 from Gatwick, 120,000 from Stansted, 60,000 from Luton and 4,500 from Bournemouth.

The engineering work on the railways will affect services to and from a number of major hubs, including London's Charing Cross, London Bridge, Paddington and King's Cross stations.

Southampton Central and Sheffield are among other major stations where services will be affected over the weekend.

Rail industry body the Railway Delivery Group said work was planned carefully to ensure the vast majority of passengers are not disrupted.

The group added that this Easter would see 20 per cent fewer bus replacement services needed than last Easter.