Britain has descended into travel chaos today after huge queues have begun forming at Dover as millions of families are expected to hit the road for the start of the summer holidays.
Motorists have been warned they may face waits of more than two hours along the M5 heading south as holidaymakers flock to Devon and Cornwall to lavish in the warm weather this weekend.
Congestion on Britain’s roads is set to peak on Saturday amid a ‘weekend of woe’, with 3.6million journeys expected followed by another 2.9million trips on Sunday.
Railway passengers have also been caught up in the chaos after Eurostar told customers to cancel their trips following a ‘massive arson attack’ on France‘s rail network ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.
The company said it scrapped about a quarter of its trains between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam on Friday and predicted it would have to cancel about a fifth of trains over the weekend, adding that all services will face delays.
Holiday goers at Manchester and Heathrow airport are also facing a long wait this morning, with queues already forming outside check in desks as thousands of Brits prepare to jet off abroad.
DOVER: Holidaymakers and Freight traffic builds up at The Port of Dover due to Border controls checks being carried out
DOVER: Freight vehicles and holidaymakers trying to get their Ferries, are facing 2 hour delays as they arrive at Dover
ST PANCRAS: Passengers are facing delays at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station in central London after a massive arson attack on the French railway network
MANCHESTER: Manchester Airport this morning as queues wait to head away
RAC has warned of delays all week after schools broke up for the summer holidays.
The Port of Dover said it is expecting its busiest weekend, with 11,000 tourist cars over the course of Saturday.
A spokesperson for the port said it was ‘free flowing’ on Saturday morning and reported wait times of just five minutes at border control.
Brittany Ferries – which operates between the UK, France and Spain – said most overnight sailings were now full this weekend, but there was still space on daytime trips.
Travel association Abta estimated that more than two million Britons would head overseas this weekend, covering the period between Friday and Sunday.
Congestion on Britain’s roads is set to peak today, with 3.6million journeys expected, according to the RAC. This will be followed by another 2.9million trips on Sunday.
A further 4million getaways are planned at some point between Friday and Sunday, meaning a total of 13.8million trips could be made throughout the course of the weekend.
The RAC said its records show these three days will form the second busiest summer getaway weekend since 2015.
In that time only 2022 has seen more trips made, with 18.8million taking to their cars during the heatwave that came at the end of two years of Covid-related restrictions.
The best times to travel are expected to be after 6pm on Saturday, or 3pm on Sunday.
The single worst queue, of more than two hours, is predicted on Saturday lunchtime on the M5 heading south between junction 15 for the M4 interchange near Bristol, and junction 23 for Bridgwater, as holidaymakers flock to Devon and Cornwall.
RAC Breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: ‘Anyone heading off on holiday on Saturday or Sunday should expect a weekend of woe on the roads with journeys taking far longer than normal.
‘If you can’t set off really early, then it’s highly likely you’ll be sitting in traffic for quite some time.
‘Our research suggests this year’s getaway is set to be busier than average, possibly due to the UK inflation rate having slowed, giving people a bit more confidence to spend.
‘However, with our recent bad weather causing an increase in international travel bookings, queues to major airports should not be underestimated.
‘We’d advise drivers to plan their routes well in advance if jetting off abroad this week.’
HEATHROW: Passenger sleep on the floor as they wait for their flights at Heathrow airport
HEATHROW: Huge queues formed at Heathrow airport on Saturday as thousands of families head off for the first day of the school holidays
HEATHROW: A busy Heathrow airport departures area as families head off for the first day of the school holidays
HEATHROW: There were longer than usual wait times at Heathrow on Saturday due to the sheer volume of travellers
MANCHESTER: Holiday goers at Manchester airport are also facing a long wait this morning, with queues already forming outside check in desks
Rail passengers are also facing mayhem, after arson attacks on the French rail network ahead of the start of the Olympic Games, has caused cancellations and delays to Eurostar trains.
Four trains from London to Paris were cancelled on Saturday, with disruption expected to last until Monday while travellers were advised to postpone their journeys where possible.
Those hoping to make it to Paris in time for the glitzy opening ceremony involving 10,500 athletes along the River Seine were caught up in major delays on Friday.
Among the passengers impacted were a group of Youth Olympians wearing Team GB kit who have been invited to the 2024 Games as guests.
The majority of Team GB athletes are also taking the Eurostar to the Olympics, although only two athletes were scheduled to arrive in Paris on Friday. Support staff and stakeholders are also travelling to Paris from St Pancras for the Games.
Furious passengers have taken to social media to voice their frustrations about the ongoing delays, with some having spent thousands of pounds on tickets for events as well as accomodation and travel.
Jeremy Bourton claimed he spent between £3500 and £4,000 on accomodation and tickets for Olympic events, which he may not be able to attend after his Eurostar train was cancelled today.
Katie faced similar travel woes as she was almost forced to spend £900 on flights after her Eurostar train was cancelled on Friday. She was able to reach Paris after catching a later train but still missed out on the opening ceremony.
Meanwhile, rail company Northern issued a ‘do not travel’ warning for Sunday in parts of North West England due to staff shortage.
The chaos follows major travel disruption since last Friday after a flawed IT update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike knocked many global services offline.
Elsewhere, in Kent buses will replace Southeastern trains between Sittingbourne and Sheerness-on-Sea this weekend due to repairs on the Kingsferry Bridge.
ST PANCRAS: A train cancellation on the Eurostar on Friday
PARIS: Dozens of Eurostar passengers are pictured surrounding a train amid the delays
PARIS: Armed guards in Paris head of the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
PARIS: Eurostar delays at Gare du Nord amid chaos on France’s rail lines
ST PANCRAS: Team GB guests were caught up in the delays at St Pancras on Friday morning
FRANCE: Employees of SNCF railway company speak to passengers waiting for their trains’ departure at the Gare Montparnasse train station
East Midlands Railway passengers will be affected by works at the weekend, with buses running between Market Harborough, Leicester and Kettering.
And buses will also replace CrossCountry trains between Leicester and Nuneaton this weekend.
South Western Railway travellers will be also impacted by works taking place between Surbiton and Effingham Junction via Claygate, closing all lines.
London Luton Airport expects 220,000 passengers to pass through between Friday and Monday, with a total of 2.5 million passengers expected over the school summer holiday period.
Clare Armstrong, head of guest experience at London Luton Airport, said Paris is ‘clearly leading the way for city break destinations’.
She said the last week had seen a 25% rise in people travelling to the French capital and that was ‘no doubt’ due to the Olympic Games.
Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona and Lisbon are also very popular, she added.
Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport is anticipating its ‘busiest ever summer’ and will serve 250,000 passengers a day at its peak.
Transport analytics company Inrix warned drivers wanting to avoid the worst delays not to travel between 12pm and 5pm on Saturday, and between 11am and 1pm on Sunday.
Those staying at home are set to enjoy a mini-heatwave with temperatures set to hurtle past 30C – making it hotter than parts of South Africa and Brazil.
As families embark on their summer getaways, temperatures could climb to 27C.
But Sunday could see the hottest day of the year so far, as sunseekers hope the mercury sizzles above the 31.9C recorded in St James’s Park on July 19.
It comes after a disappointing start to July, where the wet and chilly start has barely materialised into the Great British summer many had pinned their hopes on.
Furious passengers have taken to social media to voice their frustrations about the ongoing Eurostar delays
FRANCE: SNCF workers and French gendarmes inspect the scene of a suspected attack on the high speed railway network at Croiselles
ST PANCRAS: Passengers queue at the Eurostar terminal after several French lines were hit by ‘malicious acts’
ST PANCRAS: Dejected rail passengers wait for updates after Eurostar travel was thrown into chaos
ST PANCRAS: Passengers sleep at the central London station as they face long delays
DOVER: Holidaymakers wait to board ferries at the Kent port as the busy summer travel period gets underway
DOVER: Long tailbacks are seen as 3.2million drivers hit the roads on Frantic Friday
DOVER: Port officials have said that holidaymakers are facing processing times of around 40 minutes
MANCHESTER: Pictures show passengers waiting in long queues as they embark on summer getaways
MANCHESTER: Passengers queue at the airport on the first weekend of the summer holidays
The Prime Minister has urged people going to Paris for the Olympics to heed the travel advice.
Sir Keir’s spokeswoman said: ‘Obviously the situation is concerning, and like the statements you’ve seen from the French, it is also incredibly frustrating for people travelling to attend the Games and the Olympic ceremony.
‘The Prime Minister would urge people to continue to follow the travel advice and the statements from the travel operators.’
The spokeswoman added: ‘Irrespective of this disruption, it is very clear that both in France, here and around the world, everyone is hugely excited and looking forward to what will be an incredibly successful Olympic Games, and we won’t let disruption overshadow that.’
A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir was meant to be travelling on the Eurostar to Paris ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, but flew to France instead due to the the disruption and delays.
French rail company SNCF said a series of incidents overnight had affected travel to and from London beneath the Channel, to Belgium and across the west, north and east of France.
Three fires were reported near the tracks of the French Atlantique, Nord and Est high-speed lines by local media.
The French sports minister has described the rail attacks across France as ‘unacceptable’.
Speaking to Sky News, Amelie Oudea-Castera said: ‘I condemn them extremely strongly. It’s just unacceptable.
‘It’s probably a large-scale sabotage with some malicious acts, probably co-ordinating. We’re still in the process of analysing all the impacts, accessing what we’re going to implement as solutions because it’s going to have impacts also over the weekend.’
In a statement on Friday, Eurostar said: ‘Due to co-ordinated malicious acts in France affecting the high-speed line between Paris and Lille, all high-speed trains going to and coming from Paris are being diverted via the classic line on Friday, Friday July 26. This extends the journey time up to an hour and a half.
‘Eurostar expects this situation will last until Monday morning. Today, Eurostar will cancel 25% of its trains. It will also be the case on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28.
‘Eurostar’s teams are fully mobilised in stations, in the call centres, and onboard to ensure that all passengers are informed and can reach their destination.’
The company said customers were being informed via email, text and on the Eurostar website. Any affected passengers can cancel or refund their tickets or modify their journey free of charge.In an update to the earlier statement, the rail operator said: ‘We encourage our customers to postpone their trip if possible.’
PARIS: Rail passengers wait inside the Gare du Nord train station amid delays after a ‘massive arson attack’ hit France’s rail networks
PARIS: Passengers sit on the floor as they wait for updates following a series of attacks
PARIS: Police officers patrol the areas after high-speed rail traffic to the French capital was severely disrupted
PARIS: Passengers wait inside the Gare du Nord train station on the day that the 2024 Summer Olympics starts in the capital
PARIS: Passengers gather around the departure boards at the Gare Montparnasse train station
PARIS: Travelers check trains on an electronic board at the Gare de Montparnasse
SNCF said the situation should last ‘at least all weekend’ but teams are already on site carrying out checks and beginning repairs.
The operator advised its passengers to postpone their journeys and ‘not to go to the station’.
Adding to the chaos, an airport located at the Swiss-French border was evacuated due to a bomb alert. Basel-Mulhouse airport’s terminals were evacuated on Friday morning and all flights had been suspended. It was later reopened.
Eurostar passengers have spoken about the delays and there fears about going to Paris.
Olympics fan Harriet Keane was gutted to find her train had been cancelled this morning.
The 36-year-old was due to travel to Paris for the start of the Games – but found her Eurostar train had been axed.
She is due to watch 16 different events over the next two weeks – so was desperate to reach France.
Luckily, relieved Harriet managed to bag a seat on a train to Lille after some hours of stress.
She said: ‘I’m in France for two weeks and I’m going to 16 events. I was stressed this morning as I was worried I wasn’t going to make it.
‘I was meant to be on an 11am train but it got cancelled, so I’ve rebooked to go straight to Lille instead as that’s where the basketball is tomorrow.
‘So I’m missing the opening ceremony, but actually it’s probably better for me to go straight to Lille so I don’t mind too much.’
Harriet is losing money on the hotel she booked for tonight in Paris, but luckily, most of her other expenses will be refunded.
She said: ‘My Eurostar train is being refunded and all the trains I booked in France for the next couple days have been refunded too.
‘It could have been a lot worse. I’m still going to the Olympics and I can’t wait.’
Ben and Sophie Spence said they were concerned about a potential terrorism threat.
Ben, 40, said: ‘Sophie won a competition at work which gave us tickets to the swimming tomorrow and two nights in Paris, all expenses paid.
ST PANCRAS: Rail passengers queue up at A Eurostar rail terminal at the London station
ST PANCRAS: Departures to Paris were impacted by the delays this morning
KENT: A Eurostar train travels through Ashford. Many have been delayed or cancelled
‘We were really excited but it’s been a stressful morning as Eurostar contacted us and said not to come.
‘But then Sophie’s company called and said we should be fine – so we came down here to see.
‘We’re only an hour delayed and I think it will all be fine – but Sophie’s worried about the terror threat.’
Sophie admitted: ‘I just feel like going home.’
The couple’s other issue is that when they thought their train would be cancelled, they booked a night at a hotel so they could stay in London.
However, now that they are trying to head to Paris, they haven’t been able to get a refund.
Ben said: ‘We panicked and booked to stay another night in London – as we were here last night too – but now it looks like we’ll have lost our money.’
One father, who had brought his daughter, 17, to St Pancras, had similar concerns to Sophie.
The 51-year-old, who did not want to be named, said: ‘She’s heading to visit a friend and it looks like her train is fine.
‘But I’ll be honest I don’t really want her to go anymore because of these attacks. But she insists it will be okay.’
While most trains going from St Pancras to Paris are running on time, journeys have been extended by 90 minutes because of diversions, Eurostar said in a statement.
However, passengers anxious to absorb the atmosphere in Paris during the opening ceremony said they were disappointed their time in the city would be cut short because of the delays.
Hadassa Goncalves made the journey from Sao Paulo, Brazil, but missed her 7am train to Paris when she by arriving too late.
The 24-year-old now plans on getting a 12.30pm service, which was meant to arrive in Paris for 3.48pm but will now get in at 4.48pm.
Britons heading to holiday destinations by train also face disruption on certain routes over the coming week due to engineering works.
A major project to replace a 150-year-old bridge over the railway near Hackney Downs in East London began over the weekend and will run until Sunday, August 4.
This means Greater Anglia services between Bishops Stortford to Stratford will not operate all fortnight.
In addition, routes between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge and all Stansted Express trains will divert via Seven Sisters instead of running via Tottenham Hale – extending journey times.
This means Seven Sisters station is expected to be much busier than usual, with a one-way system in operation at peak periods.