Easter travel chaos begins as 'nightmare' queues form at Dover before weekend
Holidaymakers are already complaining of "nightmare" queues at the Port of Dover as the great Easter getaway kicks off to a busy start.
Last night, ferry operator DFDS urged holidaymakers to allow two hours "to complete border controls and check-in" at the Kent port over the bank holiday weekend.
And as early as 8am today, P&O Ferries was reporting delays of "at least 60 minutes" to the port's entrance.
The ferry operator tweeted: "There are currently large queues at the entrance to the Port of Dover of at least 60 minutes.
"Please allow additional time on your journey if possible and rest assured should you miss your crossing you will be on the next."
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One driver replied: "We're in the queue and it's a nightmare. Hope we will be getting a refund for the price difference if we miss our allocated ferry."
It comes after chaotic scenes at the port last weekend when thousands of people were delayed, reportedly by up to 14 hours.
Drivers wait in the queue at the port on Thursday (PA)At one point on Thursday, there were queues of "approximately 90 minutes" for passport checks by French officials at the port as the Easter rush kicked off amid "high volumes of traffic", DFDS said.
Delays at Dover have been blamed on French border officials carrying out extra checks and stamping UK passports following Brexit.
Port officials said they held an "urgent review" with ferry operators and the French authorities in an attempt to avoid a repeat of last weekend's delays.
Ferry companies are asking coach operators booked on sailings on Good Friday - expected to be the busiest day for outbound Easter travel from Dover - to "spread the travel" across the three-day period from Thursday to Saturday.
Portable toilets are installed at the Port of Dover on Thursday (PA)A general strike in France in a row over pension reforms is also causing disruption.
About 400,000 people joined a protest against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms in Paris on Thursday, the French CGT union reportedly said.
Mr Macron's bid to raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64 has sparked days of unrest, with reports of police firing tear gas and some protesters starting fires in Paris on Thursday.
Many flights to, from and over France have been grounded due to air traffic controllers joining the walkout.
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London's Waterloo station is packed with travellers at rush hour yesterday (Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock)British Airways axed at least 20 flights which would have used French airspace on Thursday.
Eurostar cancelled a train in both directions between London and Paris.
Protesters also blocked a road to terminal one of Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Flights were unaffected but many passengers were forced to walk to and from the terminal.
A busy terminal 5 departures area at Heathrow Airport on Friday (SplashNews.com)Meanwhile, UK drivers have been warned to expect long delays on popular routes over the coming days.
The RAC is predicting that up to 17 million leisure trips by car will take place between Good Friday and Easter Monday.
An estimated two million British holidaymakers are set to travel overseas during the long weekend, according to travel trade organisation Abta.
It reported strong demand for trips to mainland Spain, the Canary and Balearic Islands, the Algarve, Madeira, Cyprus, Croatia, Italy, Greece and southern Turkey.
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