2023-12-22 10:43:23
22 December 2023, 09:20 GMT
Updated 14 minutes ago
Image caption,
Eurostar trains were cancelled at St Pancras International Station on Thursday as a result of industrial action in France
Millions of people across the country are making their Christmas getaway on one of the busiest days for travel of the year.
There are long queues at the Port of Dover following a surge in demand for ferries caused by Thursday’s Eurotunnel strike action in France.
Domestic train services in parts of the UK have also been disrupted.
The RAC has advised drivers to travel before 11:00 GMT or following 18:00 to avoid long queues on the roads.
The organisation has said Friday will be the busiest day of the festive season as those heading away will share the roads with commuters and those on the school run picking up children.
Some 13.5 million leisure journeys are predicted to take place between Friday and Sunday – a 20% increase on the three days before Christmas Day last year – with 21 million trips overall.
Some motorways are already facing disruption.
The M62, which connects Lancashire to Yorkshire, has been closed in both directions between junctions 21, near Rochdale, and 22, near Sower Bridge since 23:00 on Thursday following a 19-year-old man died in a collision.
Strong winds from Storm Pia brought misery to thousands on Thursday, with all rail lines to and from London Euston blocked, and Eurostar and Eurotunnel services cancelled by a last-minute walkout in France.
Some 130 rail services to and from King’s Cross and Euston stations were cancelled, and hundreds more were delayed.
The unexpected strikes in France were over by Thursday evening. Eurostar has added six extra services between Friday and Sunday to help alleviate the backlog in the run up to Christmas.
The Port of Dover said there were 90-minute delays at French border controls on Friday morning because of the demand following the strikes.
Rail services are returning to normal in parts of the country, though the network is expected to be very busy throughout the course of the day.
There is also some localised disruption on parts of the network.
No London North Eastern Railway trains are serving Inverness on Friday morning.
ScotRail services remain suspended between Inverness and Wick, Tain, Ardgay and Lairg.
Meanwhile, Southeastern said it was forced to cancel a number of trains due to “a shortage of available train crew”.
There will be no service on the Sheerness line following 10:00 for the rest of the day, and there are cancellations on the high speed line to and from London St Pancras throughout the day.
London’s Paddington station will be closed from Christmas Eve until Thursday 28 December for engineering works.
Most long-distance services will be cancelled from London King’s Cross on 24 December.
London Heathrow is expecting its busiest day of the winter season on Friday, with an estimated 250,000 people flying from the airport.
Flights at the airport were delayed or cancelled on Thursday as a result of the storm, while British Airways has cancelled a further 20 flights on Friday.
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