Brits face even more travel misery tomorrow amid warnings grid-locked traffic at the Port of Dover could be "just the start" of a woeful weekend.
Saturday is expected to be even busier for those hoping to begin their summer getaway after holidaymakers and lorry drivers sat in six-hour queues around Dover as millions hit the road on 'frantic Friday'.
The chief executive of the Port of Dover, Doug Bannister, was unable to guarantee the backlog would clear in the coming days and warned today and tomorrow were "just the start of a very busy summer for us".
The port blamed a shortage of French border officials as it declared a "critical incident" and urged tourists to stay away, with bumper-to-bumper traffic sat stationary for hours.
Meanwhile the RAC warned this weekend will be the busiest summer getaway in at least eight years as most schools in England and Wales break up for summer.
Have you been caught up in the delays at the Port of Dover? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk
One lorry driver said he had been queuing in his HGV in Dover since 6pm on Thursday, and was still waiting to cross the Channel after 10am on Friday morning.
"I've been in something like this before, but this is the worst," he said.
The Port of Dover attacked French authorities for "woefully inadequate" border control staffing, and local MP Natalie Elphicke claimed French border officers "didn't turn up for work".
The Port said resources at the French border increased on Friday morning and traffic was slowly beginning to move, "but it will take some time to clear the backlog".
Mr Bannister said the port had shared "granular detail" on an "hour-by-hour basis" about the amount of traffic it was expecting, in a bid to avoid such disruption.
Apologising for the situation on Friday - one of the busiest periods for foreign travel from the UK as most schools in England and Wales break up for summer - he said they had been "let down" by French authorities.
He told BBC News: "I am so sorry that the travellers we have going to the port today are being impacted.
"To be let down in the way that we have with inadequate resources and slow processes through the border is just immensely frustrating.
"We've shared in granular detail, on an hour-by-hour basis, the amount of traffic we were anticipating, so it was completely known what we needed to have in place at the French border."
Asked whether he can reassure travellers planning a trip over the coming days that the backlog will ease, he said: "I really wish I could - we're putting all the attention we possibly can do on ensuring there will be enough resources in place to manage this very busy first weekend of the summer."
The Foreign Secretary has also labelled the delays and queues at Dover "unacceptable", calling it an "entirely avoidable" situation after a "critical incident" was declared by the Port of Dover.
Liz Truss said in a statement: "This awful situation should have been entirely avoidable and is unacceptable.
"We need action from France to build up capacity at the border to limit any further disruption for British tourists and to ensure this appalling situation is avoided in future. We will be working with the French authorities to find a solution."
P&O Ferries, reeling from the mass sacking of 800 seafarers earlier this year, told passengers earlier in the day: “If you are booked to travel today please allow at least 6hrs to clear all security checks.”
Some frustrated families said they decided to travel by ferry to avoid the chaos at airports.
Lee and Lucy Watkins from Bristol were travelling to La Rochelle, west France with their daughters - 10-year-old Izzy and seven-year-old Eva, and two other families.
It is their first holiday in over two years because of the pandemic.
Mrs Watkins said: “It’s so annoying. We’ve waited so long for a holiday and now this.”
Rupert and Emily Saville, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, were travelling to the Dordogne, France with six and eight-year-old sons Freddie and George.
Mr Saville said: “We left at 5.45am so we’ve been in the car for six hours now. It’s a long time.”
Artur Majchrzyk and wife Sylwia were queuing in the Kent town for more than five hours.
The couple - along with their children Nicola, 15, and Antonio, seven - still faced a long journey after crossing the Channel as they were driving to a near Alicante in Spain.
Mr Majchrzyk, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, said: “I’ve never seen anything like this before.
“We’ve already missed our ferry but we’re making sure we get on the next one.”
Glenn Carpenter, wife Charlotte and their four children from Windsor, Berkshire, left home at 5.30am.
Speaking from the queue, Mr Carpenter said: “We have probably moved about a mile and a half in four and a half hours now.”
In a statement on Friday afternoon, the port said it was urging the UK Government to "continue working with French counterparts" to "adequately resource the border" throughout the summer to "keep our community clear, to get families on their holidays and to keep essential trade moving".
Passengers embarking on cross-Channel sailings from Dover must pass through French border checks before they can board a ferry.
The port said in a statement that it had increased the number of border control booths by 50%.
It went on: "Regrettably, the PAF (police aux frontieres) resource has been insufficient and has fallen far short of what is required to ensure a smooth first weekend of the peak summer getaway period."
Ms Elphicke said there had been "weeks of preparation" for this week by the port, the Department for Transport and Kent
Resilience Forum, and "much work with French counterparts too".
She said: "Despite all this, French border officers didn't turn up for work at the passport controls as needed. This has caused massive delays."
Delays at Dover are causing tourist and freight traffic to be stuck on gridlocked roads in the area.
One Twitter user wrote shortly before 7am that there was "total gridlock", while another said they had been "waiting five hours and still not in the port", adding: "Sat in lanes waiting to get to border control. Zero movement."
National Highways South-East said delays between junction 11 (Westenhanger/Hythe) and junction 12 were "severe".
Ferry operator P&O Ferries told passengers to allow at least five hours to clear the approach roads and security checks.
Passengers have been advised to take additional water and snacks, ensure they have plenty of fuel in the tank, and urged not to try back routes to reach the port due to concerns about worsening the congestion situation, particularly for local residents.
The RAC said an estimated 18.8 million leisure trips are planned in the UK between Friday and Monday.
That is the most since the company began tracking summer getaway numbers in 2014.
Transport analytics company Inrix believes the M25 - London's orbital motorway - could see some of the worst jams, singling out the stretches between Bromley and the Dartford Crossing; Maple Cross and the M3; and the M23 to the M40.
The A303 near Stonehenge, Wiltshire, the M4 between Cardiff and Newport in south Wales, and the M5 south of Bristol are also likely to see queuing traffic at various points this weekend.
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: "The extreme heat that's affecting much of the UK in the last few days might wane over the next few days, but we still expect the summer getaway to begin with a bang as a potentially record-breaking number of drivers take to the roads this coming weekend - and that's despite the unbelievably high cost of fuel.
"With school terms in England and Wales finishing this week and millions of people ready for a well-earned break, we anticipate a frantic Friday followed by a woeful weekend on major roads across the country, with traffic and congestion likely peaking on Saturday.
"The advice to drivers heading off on a holiday by car is therefore clear - leave as early as you can in the morning or expect to be sat in some lengthy queues."
Queues were reported at some airports in what was their biggest test since before the Covid crisis struck following months of disruption, cancellations and delays.
One traveller who posted a photo from Manchester’s Terminal 1 branded the airport an “embarrassment.”
Airport and airline chiefs had claimed they were better prepared for the summer stampede than the chaos suffered by Easter and half-term travellers.
Manchester Airport said it had “no issues” with queues at security, but that there had been some at check-in.
Heathrow said yesterday had been busy but “flowing well”.
Yet unions warn said staff were being put under huge strain.
Some cabin crew are reporting having to work beyond legal “flight time limitations” due to a lack of rest between flights.
Unite national officer Oliver Richardson said: “Sadly further disruption across the aviation sector is inevitable this summer.
“This is a crisis of both the government’s and aviation sector’s own making.
“Too many workers were cut during the pandemic and the reductions to pay and conditions for those that remained made the industry unattractive to new starters.”
