Christmas getaway disruption is continuing with long queues for cross-Channel journeys, motorway closures and train cancellations.
The Port of Dover in Kent said it is taking 90 minutes to process cars with pre-booked tickets.
It attributed the delay to a surge in demand for ferries after the Channel Tunnel rail link was closed on Thursday due to unscheduled industrial action by French workers, which ruined the travel plans of tens of thousands of people.
Eurostar, which operates passenger services to and from London St Pancras, said it will operate two extra services per day between London and Paris up to and including Christmas Eve to help people whose trains were cancelled on Thursday.
Vehicle-carrying train service Eurotunnel said it is running its usual timetable but is only accepting customers who have pre-booked.
The M20 motorway in Kent remains closed in the coastbound direction between junctions 8 and 9 due to Operation Brock, which involves organising a queue for freight traffic during disruption to cross-Channel services.
National Highways said this was causing 45-minute delays.
Some Eurostar passengers at London St Pancras on Friday were due to travel on Thursday but had their journeys cancelled.
Valentin Walch and Pauline Cerceau, both 26, stayed at a friend’s home overnight after rebooking.
Mr. Walch, a handball trainer from Chartres, France, said they were “stressed and a little bit angry” when they were told they could not travel on Thursday.
He said, “We know some people who slept in the train station, we’re lucky we stayed at a friend’s.”
The M62 motorway was closed from around 11 p.m. on Thursday until shortly before 9 a.m. on Friday between junctions 21 (near Rochdale, Greater Manchester) and 22 (near Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire) because of a police investigation following a crash in which a 19-year-old, male passenger was killed. The incident caused long delays to journeys.
Greater Manchester Police said it arrested the 19-year-old driver of the car—which crossed from the westbound carriage onto the eastbound section—on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
On the domestic railway, disruption from strong winds remained following chaos caused by Storm Pia on Thursday.
No LNER 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.”
Services on the Sheerness line were suspended at 10 a.m. for the rest of the day, and there are cancellations on the high-speed line to and from London St Pancras throughout the day.
The RAC estimated 13.5 million leisure journeys by car would take place across the UK between Friday and Sunday, up 20 percent on the three days before Christmas Day last year.
Road congestion was likely to peak on Friday as drivers embarking on leisure trips competed for road space with commuters and business traffic.
Motorists were advised to travel before 11 a.m. or after 6 p.m. if possible to reduce the chance of being stuck in long queues.
Likely traffic hotspots on the M25 identified by transport analysis company Inrix include: clockwise between junction 7 (for the M23/Gatwick Airport) and junction 16 (for the M40/Birmingham); and anti-clockwise between junction 17 (Rickmansworth) and junction 12 (for the M3).
Other motorway stretches expected to see long queues included the M1 north from Woburn, Bedfordshire, to Daventry, Northamptonshire, and the M6 south from Wigan, Greater Manchester, to Stafford, Staffordshire.
