Bank Holiday traffic headaches are likely to hit the region's shopping centres rather than the coast routes after forecasters predicted a wet holiday weekend.

Although the unsettled nature of the weather is making predictions difficult, heavy downpours, cloud and strong winds are expected for Saturday and Sunday, with only a slight improvement anticipated for Bank Holiday Monday.

And with temperatures struggling to reach 20 degrees, many families might decide against heading out to the traditional seaside resorts for the last holiday weekend before Christmas.

The AA is still expecting routes to the east coast such as the A64 to be heavier than usual, but the worst blackspots are likely to be found close to the major shopping centres, such as Meadowhall and the White Rose Centre. In order to ease potential congestion, most major road works will be removed.

Regardless of the weather, the AA has drafted in more than 100 extra patrols to cope with the estimated 15 million holiday-related journeys that will be made.

Despite the weather forecast, tourist officials in Morecambe are confident the bad weather will not deter too many from making the trip. With most accommodation in the town already fully-booked, Morecambe is expecting one of its busiest weekends of the year.

A spokesman for the town's tourist information centre said: "We are expecting a lot of visitors from Bradford this weekend. The links between the two towns do go back a long way and we still attract a good mix of people."

However, families who do decide to defy the weather and visit the seaside are being warned by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to be especially vigilant following recent tragedies on the British coastline.

It has developed a Sea Smart code which gives parents a checklist of messages to help reduce seaside incidents, which last year numbered more than 4000.

For those keen to escape the British weather altogether, Leeds- Bradford Airport is anticipating a rise in passenger numbers over the next few days.

Operations director Rob Lund said: "Although we are not running additional services, we do expect better loads and many services to be full to capacity."