Saturday is expected to be even busier for school holiday travellers and lorry drivers after gridlocked roads around Dover caused chaos on Friday.
What has happened at Dover?
The Port of Dover called a “critical incident” yesterday, as drivers found themselves gridlocked getting to the port and then through French passport control. Travellers must pass through passport control before heading onto ferries. However, French authorities have struggled to cope with the demand. They blamed staff shortages, as well as citing the requirement for more thorough checks since Brexit, for the delays.
At the worst point on Friday, operators were advising holidaymakers and freight customers to allow six hours to make it through pre-sailing checks.
Why will Saturday be worse?
With even more schools breaking up yesterday, travel experts warned that Saturday would see even longer queues at ports such as Dover and Folkstone. One reporter said that, on Saturday morning, it was taking two hours for school holiday travellers to make it through the last mile to Dover’s ferry port, with another similar amount of time to clear passport control.
What is happening elsewhere?
Friday saw huge queues at airports too, including Manchester, Stansted and Heathrow. Earlier in the week there were disruptions caused by staff absences due to the heatwave. However, insiders say that although there are huge influxes of people at airports around the country as families look to jet off for the holidays, the queues are moving quickly.
