Thousands of British families were caught up in traffic chaos in the port of Dover this morning as a wave of tourists made a break to the mainland over the bank holiday weekend.
Up to 5,500 cars and 350 coaches are forecast to travel through Dover today and the Port has been under pressure to implement measures to prevent traffic from entangling after declaring a critical incident this Easter.
Ferry operator DFDS said shortly before 8:30am that there had been a wait of around an hour at border control for car travelers while coach traffic was “flowing freely”.
Chief executive Doug Bannister says the Port of Dover has reviewed traffic volumes since the 17-hour Easter delays and insists that ferry operators are working with bus companies to smooth traffic flow.
He told the BBC: “We have created a new processing center in the western part of the port to better sequence traffic coming into the port and for advanced passenger information checks.”
DOVER: Traffic queues for ferries at the port of Dover in Kent as the half-term break and bank holiday weekend begins
DOVER: Dock bosses are keen to avoid a repeat of Easter, where some travelers waited up to 17 hours
DARTFORD: Heavy clockwise traffic on the A282 Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford River crossing in Kent
BRISTOL: Passengers faced long queues at check-in desks this morning
MANCHESTER: Tourists queue to check in at Manchester Airport Terminal 2 this morning
DOVER: Some drivers have already left their cars and are waiting at the roadside
The Port also has a covered area where the coaches will go for passenger passport control.
Mr Bannister added: “And finally, what we’ve done is work with all of our port partners, but specifically Police aux Frontières, to ensure that the resource levels are what we need, to make sure that we can maintain flow rates AND they responded very well.
He said the port had considered asking ferry operators to limit the number of passenger bookings, but decided to work with them to ease congestion.
He added: ‘We’ve had a look at it. But to be fair, what I would rather do is make sure that we collectively come together and try to meet the demand of the coach industry as best we can.”
However, Doug says that “it would be foolish” to guarantee that there will be no more queues at the Port.
And he added: ‘Because one of the things we have found is that things happen, right.
“But what I can say is that we have put all the measures in place, all the processes, we put in new facilities, in the best effort to make sure those queues don’t happen again.”
DOVER: Cars queue to pass check-in and security at port today
DOVER: At intervals in the huge line, the vehicles are completely static.
DOVER – Heavy vehicles, cars and coaches have been stuck in traffic this morning
DARTFORD: Motorists have been warned to expect busy roads this May bank holiday weekend as ’19 million trips’ will be made
DOVER: Port chiefs previously said it would “be foolish” to guarantee there will be no more queues
And those flying by plane have also been affected by delays with long lines at Bristol and Manchester airports and 42 canceled flights at Heathrow already this morning due to the fallout from an IT failure yesterday.
Around 16,000 passengers are believed to have been affected by the Heathrow cancellations so far, with many not learning the news of the cancellation until they were on their way to the airport.
This has contributed to chaos on the road on a day that is forecast to be the busiest day for road and airport traffic since the Covid pandemic.
Most of the affected flights were on short-haul routes to and from Heathrow airport on what was expected to be the busiest day for UK air travel since before the coronavirus pandemic.
The chaos on Friday was caused by planes and crew being out of position after a computer glitch grounded around 80 flights on Thursday.
There were also widespread delays on other flights and some passengers were unable to check in online.
In a message on its website, British Airways told customers: “We are aware of a technical problem, which we have been working hard to fix.”
He advised passengers to check their flight status before going to the airport, adding that he is receiving a “high volume of calls.”
Heathrow said the problem was not related to a strike by security officers at Terminal 5, who are currently locked in a dispute over payment.
Unite members have already carried out 15 days of industrial action, even during the busy Easter period.
Heathrow said it has contingency plans to keep the airport open and operating as usual, adding that passengers can expect a “hassle-free” mid-term break.
Meanwhile, motorists are being told to expect “hectic” traffic during what is expected to be the busiest late-May holiday weekend on the roads since 2019.
A survey of 2,138 drivers for the RAC indicated that between Friday and Monday there will be 19.2 million leisure car trips across the UK.
The worst traffic is expected for the four days today, when people embarking on holiday getaways will compete for road space with commuters.
Transport data company Inrix expects journeys on some sections of the M25 to take up to three times longer than normal.
They include clockwise from Junction 23 for Hatfield to Junction 28 for Chelmsford, and counterclockwise to Dartford Crossing.
Long delays are also expected on the M5 in Somerset and the M6 in Cheshire and Greater Manchester.
BRISTOL: Passengers flying out of Bristol airport have endured long queues
MANCHESTER: Scrums continue to form at Manchester Airport this morning
RAC Breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis said: “With the travel restrictions imposed during Covid now thankfully a distant memory, it’s clear that drivers’ desire to escape has been reignited, and our numbers for the upcoming weekend week suggest leisure traffic volumes will be close to what was last seen in 2019.
“The Weather Bureau is currently predicting mostly stable weather with above-average temperatures, so we expect this to be a busy period on the main roads as people try to make the most of the last long weekend before August.
“With so many households in financial distress, we are concerned that a lack of essential maintenance could lead to more preventable breakdowns than we would normally see.
“A quick look at your oil and coolant levels, along with checking that your tires are in good condition and properly inflated, can go a long way toward avoiding an unwanted stop on the side of the road this weekend.”
Traffic control measures have already been put in place to manage the flow of lorries traveling to Dover on the M20.
The Kent Resilience Forum, which manages emergency planning for the county, told the BBC: “Passenger forecasts from both the Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover indicate an extremely busy period for cross-Channel traffic during the bank holiday weekend at the end of May”.
‘This also coincides with the separation of schools in the UK for the middle of the term.’