Holidaymakers have been warned of potential travel disruption this weekend as UK transport networks continue to feel the impact of Friday’s global IT outage.
Flight delays and cancellations are among the disruption expected to continue into the weekend after the outage, with experts warning it could take weeks for systems to fully recover.
It comes as thousands of families start to embark on summer holidays amid the end of the academic year for many schools.
Travel association Abta urged holidaymakers to check with providers if there are “any extra steps” they may need to take.
A spokesperson said: “We’re at the start of one of the busiest periods of travel, with some schools finishing for the summer yesterday and many more next week.
“Many people will be jetting off abroad—looking to escape the UK’s unseasonable weather of late.
“With Spain, Turkey and Greece among the popular destinations for an overseas trip.
“If you are heading off on holiday this weekend—by whatever means—it’s advisable to check with your travel provider if there are any extra steps you need to take, as some businesses are continuing to feel the impact of Friday’s IT outage.”
The Port of Dover said early on Saturday that it was dealing with “hundreds of displaced” airport passengers and urged customers to ensure they had a booking before arrival.
Chief executive Doug Bannister told the PA news agency: “We operate a turn up and go system here. However, we do insist you have a book on busy days, even if people are doing this on the drive down.
“The greater visibility we have the better.
“But we are here to service people who want to travel. So I would say to displaced airport passengers ‘come on down. We have the capacity’.”
Mr Bannister said the Port was expecting more than 10,000 cars on Saturday, up from 8,000 the day before.
He added: “We start to get busy about 5 or 5:30 in the morning. We’ve opened new infrastructure today which is working really well.
“So far there is no congestion in the town of dover. Approach roads are busy but moving. Everything is running well.”
Mr Bannister also confirmed the port remained unaffected by the IT outage, adding travellers were able to get to their destinations on time and without disruption throughout Friday.
A flawed update rolled out by CrowdStrike, one of the world’s largest cybersecurity providers, knocked many businesses offline around the world on Friday, causing flight and train cancellations and crippling some healthcare systems.
CrowdStrike chief executive George Kurtz said he was “deeply sorry” for the situation and said CrowdStrike was “actively working” with those impacted.
Industry expert Adam Leon Smith of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, warned it could take “weeks” for all computers and systems to be fully restored, while Mr Kurtz said it would take “some time.”
