UK-France: Warnings of weekend of travel chaos
Anyone with a trip between France and the UK planned is being warned to leave plenty of time after long queues - up to six hours in some cases - to board transport.
This weekend sees the end of the school year for many English and Welsh schools, while French schools broke up at the start of July, meaning the summer holiday season is in full swing.
But unfortunately for anyone planning a getaway, there are major problems expected on almost all forms of transport
Ferry
The UK port of Dover on Friday declared a 'critical incident' and warned of six-hour queues to clear security and board ferries.
Port chief executive Doug Bannister told BBC radio that “we’ve got a critical incident under way”.
“I would consider holding off heading for the port at this point in time until more is known,” he advised those with ferry tickets booked for Friday.
Dover executives blamed the French for not providing adequate staffing on one of the busiest days of the year.
Travellers reported traffic jams that backed up into Dover town centre and onto the M20 motorway.
Motorist Stephen Hutchinson told The Local: "It has taken us six and a half hours to travel roughly 10km from Folkestone to the ferry port at Dover, just solid traffic.
"We were diverted by the police off the motorway through Dover town centre which was absolutely jammed. After six and a half hours we have got to the ferry port but still haven't been through security or started boarding."
He added: "I don't know what the problem is but from what I can see all the lanes are open for the checks from French officials."
There are no reported problems at other UK ports, or at French ferry ports.
Eurotunnel
Passengers travelling from Folkestone to Calais by the Eurotunnel have also reported long delays to board.
Eurotunnel officials said on Friday afternoon that the current wait time to board was 3-4 hours, saying the cause was congestion on the M20 - essentially a knock-on effect from the queues for the port of Dover - coupled with the after-effects of an earlier crash.
Update: Due to M20 congestion, you may experience delays in reaching us. Once you arrive we'll do our best to get you to France as quickly as possible. Current waiting times are 3-4hrs & live updates can be found here. We’re sorry for the inconvenience https://t.co/iue0iq5amM
— LeShuttle (@LeShuttle) July 22, 2022
Services from Calais are boarding as normal.
Eurostar
Passengers travelling on the Eurostar have been reporting for several weeks that wait times to board are now much longer, and passengers are advised to allow 60-90 minutes to clear border checks before boarding.
Over the past month queues have been reported at both Paris Gare du Nord and London St Pancras, but the most severe problems have been reported in London.
general heads up to my fellow breezy travellers that Eurostar is in fact correct to tell you to now arrive an hour before your train, I arrived exactly 30 minutes early as I did pre-pando and I am! either about to miss it or get on with minutes to spare
— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) July 21, 2022
Flights
The airport chaos seen in the UK at the start of the summer seems to have abated slightly, but passengers are still advised to arrive at the airport with plenty of time.
In better news though, a planned strike by French Ryanair crews has been called off after unions reached a pay deal with the airline. Additionally, a strike planned at London-Heathrow airport that would have impacted Air France and other regional flights has also been cancelled after the union representing Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) announced "that a fresh pay offer was now on the table after talks," according to the BBC.
Roads
Once you arrive in France there could be more traffic jams - there are red traffic warnings in place for many of the roads this weekend as French families head off on holidays.
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This weekend sees the end of the school year for many English and Welsh schools, while French schools broke up at the start of July, meaning the summer holiday season is in full swing.
But unfortunately for anyone planning a getaway, there are major problems expected on almost all forms of transport
Ferry
The UK port of Dover on Friday declared a 'critical incident' and warned of six-hour queues to clear security and board ferries.
Port chief executive Doug Bannister told BBC radio that “we’ve got a critical incident under way”.
“I would consider holding off heading for the port at this point in time until more is known,” he advised those with ferry tickets booked for Friday.
Dover executives blamed the French for not providing adequate staffing on one of the busiest days of the year.
Travellers reported traffic jams that backed up into Dover town centre and onto the M20 motorway.
Motorist Stephen Hutchinson told The Local: "It has taken us six and a half hours to travel roughly 10km from Folkestone to the ferry port at Dover, just solid traffic.
"We were diverted by the police off the motorway through Dover town centre which was absolutely jammed. After six and a half hours we have got to the ferry port but still haven't been through security or started boarding."
He added: "I don't know what the problem is but from what I can see all the lanes are open for the checks from French officials."
There are no reported problems at other UK ports, or at French ferry ports.
Eurotunnel
Passengers travelling from Folkestone to Calais by the Eurotunnel have also reported long delays to board.
Eurotunnel officials said on Friday afternoon that the current wait time to board was 3-4 hours, saying the cause was congestion on the M20 - essentially a knock-on effect from the queues for the port of Dover - coupled with the after-effects of an earlier crash.
Update: Due to M20 congestion, you may experience delays in reaching us. Once you arrive we'll do our best to get you to France as quickly as possible. Current waiting times are 3-4hrs & live updates can be found here. We’re sorry for the inconvenience https://t.co/iue0iq5amM
— LeShuttle (@LeShuttle) July 22, 2022
Services from Calais are boarding as normal.
Eurostar
Passengers travelling on the Eurostar have been reporting for several weeks that wait times to board are now much longer, and passengers are advised to allow 60-90 minutes to clear border checks before boarding.
Over the past month queues have been reported at both Paris Gare du Nord and London St Pancras, but the most severe problems have been reported in London.
general heads up to my fellow breezy travellers that Eurostar is in fact correct to tell you to now arrive an hour before your train, I arrived exactly 30 minutes early as I did pre-pando and I am! either about to miss it or get on with minutes to spare
— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) July 21, 2022
Flights
The airport chaos seen in the UK at the start of the summer seems to have abated slightly, but passengers are still advised to arrive at the airport with plenty of time.
In better news though, a planned strike by French Ryanair crews has been called off after unions reached a pay deal with the airline. Additionally, a strike planned at London-Heathrow airport that would have impacted Air France and other regional flights has also been cancelled after the union representing Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) announced "that a fresh pay offer was now on the table after talks," according to the BBC.
Roads
Once you arrive in France there could be more traffic jams - there are red traffic warnings in place for many of the roads this weekend as French families head off on holidays.
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