Holidaymakers endure two-hour Easter getaway queues at Dover after ferries are hit by 70mph Storm Nelson winds - as 2.6m drivers hit the roads and another 2m jet off abroad

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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 at 11am on Good Friday that queues were at least two hours - 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.

Are you caught up in Easter weekend chaos? Email [email protected] 

Lines of traffic at the Port of Dover as the great Easter weekend getaway gets underway - albeit with delays

The Port of Dover says traffic is continuing to move smoothly - with ferry operators thanking travellers for the patience at the border

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

The queues are only expected to grow as thousands more drivers take to the roads and make for the ferries (pictured: lorries snaking along the A20)

Traffic on the A20 in Dover winding its way through the town in order to reach the port. Thousands of vehicles are expected to pass through today

Travellers at Manchester Airport on Good Friday. Airport bosses say they expect 320,000 people to jet off over the weekend

Holidaymakers make their way into the departure lounge at Bristol Airport early on Friday. It is expecting 30,000 passengers on Easter Sunday alone

The British Airways check-in desks at Heathrow Terminal 5 are already packed with passengers early on Good Friday

Passengers prepare to drop off their bags at Heathrow Terminal 2 ahead of jetting off on Good Friday for the Easter weekend

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

Deluges affected railway lines and cancelled several ferries from Dover to Calais and Dieppe to Newhaven, with impacts still being felt today.

The Port of Dover said at 11am: 'The tourist processing time is around 2 hours from arrival at the Port as we approach our peak travel time on Good Friday. Thank you to the local community for your patience as we work to keep traffic moving.'

But several travellers have taken to social media to blast the long queues building for the boats - even in the twilight hours.

'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.' 

Port workers in bright orange jumpsuits could be seen directing traffic into the lengthy queues as travellers and truckers alike made for the continent.

Ferry companies have asked travellers to be patient as the queues continue to build throughout Friday morning. 

P&O Ferries said on X: 'Good morning, there are currently queues in the Port of Dover. Please don't worry if you miss your sailing, we'll get you on the next available ship once you're through check-in.'

DFDS said of its Dover-France route: 'All services are currently operating with delays due to the earlier strong winds in the Channel.

'Please check-in as normal, we will transfer all passengers onto the first available sailing on arrival. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.'

Kent County Council has mounted Operation Brock on the M20, partially closing the coastbound motorway to non-freight traffic heading for Dover.

Some 20,000 cars are expected to pass through over the Easter long weekend, as well as just over 9,000 freight lorries.

Ferry firm Stena Line said bookings on Irish Sea routes are up 115% on an average weekend at this time of year and have increased by 26% on Easter weekend 2023.

Journeys could also be delayed due to extra border security checks by the French after the concert hall attack in Moscow last Friday that killed more than 130 people. 

The Port said in an 'Easter holidays travel information' update on X earlier this week: 'France has heightened its border security checks following the attack in Moscow on Sunday.

'These measures may increase border processing times at the Port. Please be mindful of this when travelling to the port and check with your ferry operator for arrival times.'

Queues for the Eurotunnel at Folkestone in Kent as the Easter break gets underway. Some travellers chose to use the ferries as they were reportedly cheaper to book

Kent County Council has enacted Operation Brock, partially closing the M20 to allow EU-bound lorries to queue on the carriageway

Motorists wind their way along the A303 past Stonehenge in Wiltshire as they set off for Easter getaways. More than 2.6million journeys are expected to be made today

Queues were already building at the Port of Dover in Kent for the big Easter bank holiday getaway early on Friday

The Port of Dover said earlier that queues were running in excess of 90 minutes but that French border controls were 'flowing well'

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

Xavier Jahouen, 50, was travelling to the Swiss Alps with his family for end-of-season skiing from his home in Southampton.

Normandy-born Xavier, travelling with wife Isabelle, 48, son Alexei, 18, and daughter Amy, 14, said: 'It's absolutely ridiculous. We are in 2024. This mess has been happening for 10 years and no one has done anything at all.

'They know this is coming. They could have got more passport control officers and got more organised but they haven't.'

He added: 'This has to be more efficient. Open more gates. If you know more people are booked in, then open more gates!'

Retired Brit Richard Walker, 78, and his French wife Karrin, 52, are travelling back to their home in France after attending a funeral in Hampshire.

Their planned crossing last night was cancelled - with the pair forced to delay until this morning to return to their home 70 miles south of Paris.

Richard said: 'The communication was all right when they told us the crossing was cancelled last night because the information came as soon as they got it.

'But since we got here we have had nothing - we have to rely on radio bulletins.'

Karrin added: 'It's a bank holiday. Surely they must know and can put measures into place?

'Why is there an hour-and-a-half delay?'

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 last night.

The driest weather is expected in the far north-east of the UK and there could be a windy start to the day in many regions.

A quiet concourse at London Euston station on Good Friday. Engineering works at the southern end of the West Coast Mainline mean fewer trains are running than normal

No such disruption at London King's Cross (pictured), where families set off on railway journeys along the East Coast Mainline without issue

The southern section of the West Coast Main Line will be closed between Good Friday and Easter Monday, with replacement buses replacing Avanti West Coast trains in some areas

MailOnline has also revealed eye-watering costs for a flight over the four-day Easter weekend 

Deputy chief meteorologist Dan Harris said: 'The weather is expected to gradually improve following the widely unsettled spell of the past few days, with a fairly typical mix of spring-like weather across the UK.

'There will be some sunshine, and it will feel increasingly warm for most as the winds become lighter.

'However, the west and especially south west is likely to see passing showers too, which could be quite heavy and frequent at times.

'Eastern coastal districts are also likely to feel increasingly cold as an onshore breeze develops, threatening persistent low cloud in some areas too.'

It's an improvement to the highly changeable conditions across the country on Thursday, which saw regions hit with rain, gale force winds, hailstones and even snow across the day. 

The RAC and transport analysis company Inrix commissioned a survey which suggested 2.6 million leisure journeys by car will be made on Good Friday.

The lengthiest delays are expected to be between 11am and 3pm, meaning drivers are advised to set off as early as possible or wait until later in the afternoon.

Two popular routes for holidaymakers - the M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton, and the M3 between the M25 and the south coast - are likely to be congested.

Turkey, Dubai and the Canary Islands are among the most popular destinations abroad and trips to Dublin are also in demand.

Nelson brought unexpected weather for some parts of the country - including on Dartmoor, in Devon, which found itself blanketed in snow

Pedestrians braved the heavy rain and gusty conditions on Westminster Bridge as Storm Nelson hit on Thursday

Large waves crash over the harbour wall as Storm Nelson arrived at Newhaven in Sussex yesterday

Manchester Airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said: 'It's exciting that record numbers of people will be taking off from here this Easter: 320,000 people will travel (through the airport) over the bank holiday weekend - that's up 7 per cent on April 2023.'

Glasgow predicts more than 90,000 passengers over the four days while Birmingham Airport said it expects a 27.2% increase in departures compared to last year over the full Easter period.

Bristol, which predicts 30,000 holiday trips on Easter Sunday alone, advised: 'If travelling with Easter eggs, passengers are advised to keep any chocolate treats in your cabin baggage and to make sure they're easily accessible as they may need to be opened for a quick check.'

Liverpool Airport expects around 60,000 passengers over the four days, which is around 7% higher than last year.

But families returning from their breaks are also set to face further Easter holiday travel chaos next month when more than 600 Border Force officials at Heathrow will strike over shifts.

The strike is set to begin on April 11 and end four days later on April 14 - just as families return from their Easter holidays.

Trade union PCS, which balloted its members on the walkouts, labelled a lack of consultation with staff ahead of changes to shift patterns a 'farce'.

Network Rail urged train passengers to check their journey details before they travel because some major routes will be closed due to engineering work.

The West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes, used by Avanti West Coast trains to and from Scotland, is shut for four days from today.

Network Rail said it was laying new track near Kensal Green tunnel in North West London and replacing a busy junction just south of Milton Keynes.

Buses will run from Potters Bar to Watford Junction and Milton Keynes to London.

There will also be disruption to ScotRail services because of work to renew tracks and points over a major junction between Glasgow Central and Cambuslang and Polmadie Depot.

And in West Yorkshire, work will continue on the TransPennine Route Upgrade, with new tracks being laid around Huddersfield. This will mean changes to trains on routes such as Sheffield to Leeds and all trains to Huddersfield itself.

Greater Anglia warned of disruption across its routes because of construction work for the new Beaulieu Park station in Chelmsford, as well as track maintenance work.

Train services between London and many East Anglia locations, including Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester, will be replaced by buses for part of the journey.

And in London, the Elizabeth line will be closed due to engineering work through the centre of the capital, between London Paddington and Stratford and Abbey Wood.

Network Rail's network strategy director Laurence Bowman said: 'We know how important Easter is for families and friends to catch up, and we try to keep as much of the network open as possible.

'There's never a good time to do the work we need to do but the four days of the bank holiday, when fewer people are travelling, give us the opportunity to do major work we couldn't do in normal weekend.

'We've got 493 different pieces of work taking place this Easter, most happening overnight, including laying over 8,000 metres of new rail and putting down over 40,000 tonnes of new ballast to support the tracks.'

Tourist board VisitEngland said around 11 million people in the UK are planning an overnight Easter trip, generating an estimated £3.2 billion for the economy.

VisitEngland chief executive Patricia Yates said: 'Tourism businesses and destinations will be looking to the critical Easter weekend for much-needed cash flow after the lean winter months so it's really encouraging to see so many of us are planning a holiday at home.

'We also know from our latest research that the cost of living remains a concern and while people are still keen to take a break, many are booking late, taking shorter breaks, wanting to save on accommodation, activities and eating out, highlighting the ongoing challenges for industry.'

Easter Sunday also sees the UK move to British Summer Time (BST) where clocks go forward by one hour.