Travellers hoping for a smooth Christmas getaway have been hit by chaos, with long queues for cross-Channel journeys, motorway closures and train cancellations.
The Port of Dover in Kent said on Friday it was taking up to 90 minutes to process cars due to a surge in demand for ferries.
The port has attributed the delay to a surge in demand for ferries after the Channel Tunnel rail link was closed on Thursday due to unscheduled industrial action by French workers, which ruined the travel plans of tens of thousands of people.
“Please come prepared with refreshments to make your wait more comfortable,” the ferry company advised travellers in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
P&O Ferries apologised for delays, telling customers: “Please accept our sincere apologies for the waiting time you are currently experiencing.
“We are working hard with the authorities involved to improve the situation and would like to assure you that you will be accommodated on the next available sailing once you get through.”
Road congestion was expected to peak on Friday afternoon as drivers embarking on Christmas getaways competed for road space with commuters and business traffic.
The M20 motorway in Kent was closed coastbound on Friday due to Operation Brock, which involves organising a queue for freight traffic during disruption to cross-Channel services. The closure led to long delays, with tourist traffic diverted onto local roads.
The M20 had begun re-opening between junctions 8 and 9, late on Friday.
A strike by Eurotunnel staff on Thursday left thousands of passengers trying to find an alternative route during the peak Christmas getaway period or abandoning their plans altogether.
Eurostar, which operates passenger services to and from London St Pancras, is operating two extra services per day between London and Paris up to and including Christmas Eve to help people whose trains were cancelled on Thursday.
Vehicle-carrying train service Eurotunnel is running its usual timetable but is only accepting customers who have pre-booked.
Many Eurostar passengers at London St Pancras on Friday had been due to travel on Thursday until their rail journeys were axed.
Valentin Walch and Pauline Cerceau, both 26, stayed at a friend’s home overnight after rebooking.
Mr Walch, a handball trainer from Chartres, France, said they were “stressed and a little bit angry” when they were told they could not travel on Thursday.
He said: “We know some people who slept in the train station, we’re lucky we stayed at a friend’s.”
The M62 motorway remained closed from around 11pm on Thursday until just before 9am on Friday between junctions 21 (near Rochdale, Greater Manchester) and 22 (near Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire) following a car crash in which a 19-year-old male passenger was killed. This caused huge traffic build-up.
Greater Manchester Police arrested the 19-year-old driver of the car – which crossed from the westbound carriage on to the eastbound section – on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
On the domestic railway, disruption from strong winds remained following chaos caused by Storm Pia on Thursday.
No LNER trains served Inverness on Friday morning.
ScotRail services were suspended between Inverness and Wick, Tain, Ardgay and Lairg.
Meanwhile, Southeastern said it was forced to cancel a number of trains due to “a shortage of available train crew”.
Services on the Sheerness line were suspended at 10am for the rest of the day, and there were cancellations on the high-speed line to and from London St Pancras throughout the day.
The RAC estimated 13.5 million leisure journeys by car would take place across the UK between Friday and Sunday, up 20 per cent on the three days before Christmas Day last year.
Road congestion was likely to peak on Friday as drivers on leisure trips competed for road space with commuters and business traffic.
Motorists were advised to travel before 11am or after 6pm if possible to reduce the chance of being stuck in long queues.
Location technology company TomTom said road congestion in cities across Britain was above normal levels at 3pm.
The time taken to cover 10km (6.2 miles) in London was 20 minutes and 15 seconds, some one minute and 51 seconds longer than usual at that time.
Other cities that saw an increase in journey times over the same distance include Birmingham (two minutes and 11 seconds), Manchester (two minutes and 33 seconds), Glasgow (two minutes and 24 seconds) and Cardiff (four minutes and eight seconds).
Likely traffic hotspots on the M25 identified by transport analysis company Inrix include: clockwise between junction 7 (for the M23/Gatwick Airport) and junction 16 (for the M40/Birmingham); and anti-clockwise between junction 17 (Rickmansworth) and junction 12 (for the M3).
Other motorway stretches expected to see long queues included the M1 north from Woburn, Bedfordshire, to Daventry, Northamptonshire, and the M6 south from Wigan, Greater Manchester, to Stafford, Staffordshire.
