Holidaymakers face three-hour Dover queues at start of Easter getaway as ... trends now
Holidaymakers at Dover are facing queues of around two hours to begin their Easter getaways after ferries were held up thanks to Storm Nelson.
Around 2.6million car journeys are expected to made on Good Friday with many motorists making for the Channel - despite warnings of 'carmageddon' and ferry firm DFDS predicting disruption 'due to strong winds' on Thursday.
And two million Brits are expected to jet off abroad for the long weekend - with big queues forming at some of the country's major airports first thing in the morning.
The Port of Dover said shortly before 7am on Good Friday that queues were at least 90 minutes long - but advised that French border controls were 'flowing well' despite delays caused by last night's stormy weather.
Gusts of up to 80mph were widely expected as the weather system made landfall across London, the south-east, south-west and east of England. A yellow weather warning for wind was extended until the end of the day.
Queues are already building at the Port of Dover in Kent for the big Easter bank holiday getaway
The Port of Dover says queues are already running in excess of 90 minutes but that French border controls were 'flowing well'
But the queues are only expected to grow as thousands more drivers take to the roads and make for the ferries
The Port of Dover said queues were moving well in Kent this morning - but this has been disputed by travellers said to be among those waiting to set off on holiday
Cars queueing at the Port of Dover as they wait to make journeys overseas. French passport control may be imposing additional security checks following the Moscow terror attack
Passengers have disputed the claim by port bosses of the queues being 90 minutes long - with some claiming to have waited three hours to reach their ferries
STORM NELSON: A map by Spanish weather service Aemet showing the low pressure system that hit Britain yesterday
Good Friday is expected to be a much milder affair than yesterday, with temperatures hitting the mid-teens later in the day and some scattered showers
Deluges affected railway lines and cancelled several ferries from Dover to Calais and Dieppe to Newhaven, with impacts still being felt today.
Several travellers have taken to social media to blast the long queues already building for the boats.
'Horrendous queues at 2am, 3hrs to get through, and you say it's due to enhanced security checks?' asked one traveller on X, formerly Twitter.
Another said: 'Taken three hours to get through to check in', while a third holidaymaker, responding to the Port's social media profile, said: 'Wished we'd taken the tunnel.'
But travel trade organisation Abta said airports are reporting 'strong numbers', with 175,000 due to leave from Stansted, 105,000 from Luton, 160,000 from Manchester, 79,000 from Birmingham, and 89,000 from Edinburgh between Friday and Monday.
Bristol Airport, where many holidaymakers were pictured heading for the departure lounge in the early hours of Friday, is also expecting 30,000 passengers on Easter Sunday alone.
Good Friday is set to be a day of sunshine and blustery scattered showers, coming after unsettled conditions which have seen hailstones hit parts of Cornwall.
Elsewhere, in any sunshine it could feel warm, with highs of 14C expected in the south east of England but there is the risk of the odd thunderstorm, the Met Office said.
The driest weather is
