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Queues at Dover as Christmas getaway begins for millions

BBC Traffic on the way to the port at DoverBBC
Roads approaching the Port of Dover were congested on Friday morning

Millions of people across the country are making their Christmas getaway on one of the year's busiest travel days.

The RAC urged drivers to travel after 18:00 to avoid queues, while Eurotunnel customers and passengers at the Port of Dover encountered delays.

The impact of strong winds on Thursday led to continued disruption for some rail travellers on Friday morning.

The Met Office has warned there could be more weather-related travel issues in parts of the UK this weekend.

The RAC said around 13.5 million leisure journeys are predicted to take place by road between Friday and Sunday - a 20% increase on the three days before Christmas Day last year - with 21 million trips expected overall.

The organisation said Friday would be the busiest day of the festive season, with demand on the roads increased by commuters and the final school-run of the term.

The organisation urged motorists to start their journeys as early as possible on Saturday and Sunday, with the busiest time to travel falling between midday and 14:00.

Unexpected strikes by French Eurotunnel workers on Thursday were called off after half a day, but the walk-out resulted in knock-on delays for passengers on Friday.

Eurostar said it had added six extra services between Friday and Sunday to help alleviate the backlog in the run up to Christmas. Only customers who had already bought tickets were being allowed to use drive-on services to manage increased demand.

The Port of Dover said there were 90-minute delays at French border controls on Friday morning because of a surge in people using ferries as an alternative to the Eurotunnel.

PA Media Queues at Euston StationPA Media
Tens of thousands are expected to travel by train on Friday

P&O Ferries apologised for delays, telling customers they were "working hard with the authorities involved to improve the situation". It said passengers would be "accommodated on the next available sailing" once they got through.

Strong winds from Storm Pia brought travel misery to thousands on Thursday, with all rail lines to and from London Euston blocked and delays to services at nearby King's Cross.

Some 130 rail services to and from the stations were cancelled, and hundreds more were delayed.

The disruption continued into Friday in some places and the network was expected to be very busy throughout the day.

Storm Pia resulted in some flight cancellations and delays on Thursday and Friday morning, including at Heathrow, where an estimated 250,000 people are expected to fly from - the airport's busiest day of this year.

PA Media Queues at Euston StationPA Media
Tens of thousands are expected to travel by train on Friday

The Met Office has warned the weather could create further travel problems this weekend, including snow and ice warnings for parts of northern Scotland.

A yellow warning for rain is in place for much of Wales into Saturday evening.

The Met Office has also warned more strong winds could impact travel on Christmas Eve in north-east England, Yorkshire and the Midlands.

There is also some localised disruption on parts of the network, including:

  • No London North Eastern Railway trains to Inverness on Friday morning.
  • ScotRail services suspended between Inverness and Wick, Tain, Ardgay and Lairg.
  • Southeastern said cancelled trains due to "a shortage of available train crew".
  • No service on the Sheerness line after 10:00 GMT, and cancellations on the high speed line to and from London St Pancras throughout the day.
  • The M62 between Lancashire and Yorkshire was closed after a 19-year-old man died in a collision. on Thursday