Easter travel latest LIVE: P&O Ferries cancel all Dover-Calais sailings over holiday weekend as oil spill causes M25 chaos

P&O Ferries have cancelled all Dover-Calais sailings over the Easter Weekend, causing further misery for travellers as millions head off on their holidays.

Two of the beleaguered ferry firm’s eight vessels – the Pride of Kent and Spirit of Britain – are still being detained by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) over safety concerns.

Meanewhile Heathrow and Gatwick airports were said to be “very busy” as the Easter holiday dash began on Thursday morning.

It came as an oil spill from a lorry at the Eastbore tunnel of the Dartford Crossing caused a heavy build-up of traffic on the M25 - sparking chaos for drivers.

Holidaymakers have been urged to plan ahead amid concerns of Easter getaway chaos as millions set off on overseas trips or UK staycations.

Airports are set to be busiest on Easter Friday while some 27.6 million car journeys are expected to take place over the Bank Holiday weekend.

And rail passengers have also been warned of delays as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects costing a total of £83 million.

Good morning!

07:27 , Michael Howie

Good morning and welcome to our Easter travel live blog. We’ll be bringing you the latest news as the great Easter getaway moves into top gear over the coming hours.

AA issues traffic warning

07:40 , Michael Howie

A staggering 27.6 million car journeys are expected to take place over the Bank Holiday weekend, according to the AA.

Edmund King, AA president, said: “All our polling suggests that Good Friday will be the busiest getaway day for Easter trips and staycations. If some drivers can leave on Thursday or early Saturday, they may miss some of the jams.”

The motoring organisation also estimated that, with higher fuel prices, a 500-mile round trip will see drivers paying £20 more at the pumps than they did last Easter.

Airports brace for busiest day

07:45 , Michael Howie

Flight cancellations and long queues at UK airports in recent days have been blamed on difficulties recruiting new staff and the time it takes for their security checks to be processed, as well as increased levels of coronavirus-related sickness.

Aviation data firm Cirium said 9,212 flights with 1.6 million seats are scheduled to depart from UK airports between Good Friday and Easter Monday.

The number of flights is 78% of the total for Easter 2019, before the coronavirus crisis affected travel.

The busiest day will be Good Friday when some 2,430 flights are due to depart.

Meanwhile, it’s going to be hotter than Ibiza in London....

07:50 , Michael Howie

For those of you staying in the capital, it’s set to be hotter than popular tourist destinations such as Ibiza and Crete over the Easter bank holiday.

Craig Snell, a forecaster with the Met Office, said: “The majority of the long weekend is looking fine and dry.

“For London and the South East on Good Friday, it may start off a little grey but as the sun gets to work on the clouds, there’ll be plenty of sunshine and we’ll probably see the warmest day of the year so far, as you might expect.”

Read more here.

Rail passengers warned of delays

08:10 , Daniel Keane

Rail passengers have also been warned of delays as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects costing a total of £83 million.

This includes the closure of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes for four days from Good Friday due to upgrades of the existing line and HS2 work.

Airlines should be fined over travel delays, says consumer group

08:31 , Daniel Keane

Airlines should be fined for heavy travel delays, a consumer group has said.

Which? said that passengers affected by chaos over the Easter holidays should be offered a refund as quickly as possible.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: "Lessons should be learnt from the travel shambles this Easter.

"With many in the industry predicting a busy summer, the government must work with airlines and airports to ensure they have the resources and capacity to handle increased passenger numbers, as there can be no excuse for a repeat of these failings.

"Airlines wouldn't be ignoring the law and their passengers' rights if the aviation regulator had some teeth.

"The Department for Transport can support consumers by equipping the Civil Aviation Authority with direct fining powers.”

Passengers en route to North & Scotland face delays

08:56 , Daniel Keane

There are delays on the main rail line from Scotland, northeast England and Yorkshire to London King’s Cross following reports that a train driver hit an obstruction in the Hatfield area.

National Rail said: “Fleet engineers and the Network Rail quick response staff are on site and are working with the driver to get the train moving as quickly as possible.

“Only one out of two lines are available for trains travelling towards London.

“Please allow extra time to complete your journey, as services may be subject to delays of up to 20 minutes in the Hatfield area.

“In order to fix the issue safely, more lines will need to be blocked resulting in further delays.

“Some trains may also be diverted away from the area to avoid increased delays, but this will still lead to extended journey times.”

M25 traffic piles up amid Dartford Tunnel breakdown

09:16 , Daniel Keane

National Highways South East has warned that a broken down lorry at the eastern bore of the Dartford Tunnel is causing heavy delays.

They said: “There are currently long delays of at least 60 minutes on approach along the M25 anti-clockwise.

“If this closure impacts on your planned route, please allow extra journey time.”

Height restrictions are in place in the tunnel with vehicles over 15’9” advised “to seek an alternative route via the clockwise M25”.

Eastbore tunnel remains closed as of 9am

09:40 , Daniel Keane

Watch: Holidaymakers advised to plan ahead amid potential for Easter queues

09:59 , Daniel Keane

Heathrow and Gatwick ‘very busy’ as Easter holiday rush begins

10:12 , Daniel Keane

Heathrow and Gatwick terminals are said to be “very, very busy” but moving relatively freely as one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year got underway.

British Airways has cancelled at least 50 short haul flights on high frequency routes on Thursday but said passengers had been given at least 10 days notice so they could make alternative arrangements.

Heathrow alone was scheduled to handle 2,277 departing flights this weekend, 86 per cent of pre-Covid levels at the same time of year.

Over the course of April there will be more than 17,000 departures, compared with just 1,807 during May 2020, the quiest month duriung the pandemic.

More than half of drivers will be on the road on Saturday, says study

10:36 , Daniel Keane

Alex Kindred, a Car Insurance Expert at Confused.com, said research showed that more than half (53 per cent of drivers) would be setting off on the roads this Saturday.

She said:“To avoid congestion, planning journeys ahead and considering alternative routes that aren’t as popular will hopefully mean you see less traffic.

“We also found that one in two (49 per cent) motorists said they would check their fuel levels above all other car checks before they set off, so clearly fuel is still a concern, as prices remain very high.”

P&O Ferries cancels all Dover-Calais sailings over Easter weekend

11:12 , Daniel Keane

P&O Ferries have cancelled all Dover-Calais sailings over the Easter Weekend - causing further misery for travellers.

The company has been telling customers that no services will be operating until April 19.

In response to a Twitter user’s query over whether ferries would be running on Thursday or Friday this week, the firm responded: “This service remains suspended until the 18 April inclusive, we will update when we have more information and if this changes we will contact you directly.

“We have contacted customers who were affected. Thank you.”

P&O Ferries apologise for cancellations

11:37 , Daniel Keane

An official statement from P&O Ferries confirming that news has just been released.

It reads: “We apologise unreservedly to all customers whose scheduled journeys with us between Dover and Calais have been cancelled whilst we are unable to sail.

“It is only fair and right that we make alternative arrangements for those customers, which include transferring them onto our Hull-Europoort service to Rotterdam, or booking them onto services with Brittany Ferries between Portsmouth and Caen.

“Both of these options are at no extra cost to customers – if anyone chooses either of these alternatives we will reimburse them for any additional mileage expenses incurred and as well as all meals onboard our overnight crossing. Customers will also receive a 25 per cent discount on their original fare.

“We also recognise that these options will not be suitable for everyone, therefore any customer who booked directly with P&O Ferries will be able to claim a full refund and a free trip for future travel.

“We thank customers for their patience during this time and apologise again to those whose journeys have been disrupted.”

Pictured: Chaos at the Dartford Crossing amid traffic pile-up

12:04 , Daniel Keane

Network Rail to carry out 350 engineering projects this weekend

12:27 , Daniel Keane

Network Rail will carry out some 530 engineering projects over the Easter holiday weekend.

The firm said 95 per cent of its network will remain unaffected but delays will persist on services from Clapham Junction and London Euston.

Chief executive Andrew Haines said: “The majority of the railway will be open as usual this Easter for people to take a short break or visit loved ones, but some routes will be affected by our upgrade works, so we’re asking passengers to plan ahead and check their journeys in advance.

“We’ll be carrying out hundreds of vital projects that will improve passengers’ journeys in future – for example by improving reliability and boosting capacity on the network.”

UK to bask in ‘very pleasant’ weather this Easter weekend, says Met Office

13:10 , Daniel Keane

The UK is set to bask in "very pleasant" spring conditions over the Easter weekend, with temperatures rising to more than 10C above average.

Forecasters are predicting the mercury could peak at 22C in some parts on Good Friday, setting a new record for the hottest day of the year so far.

Met Office forecaster Richard Miles said although most places will experience fine and dry weather, areas in the North West may experience the occasional shower, making eastern areas the most desirable destination for weather over the weekend.

"Largely it's going to be pleasant until Sunday for most areas across the UK," he said.

"The warmest weather will probably be on Friday, but it will stay well above average for most of Saturday and Sunday too.

"The average temperature for this time of year is roughly 12C - so it will be around 10C warmer for an April day."

Passengers at Manchester and Birmingham airports complain of ‘shambolic’ queues

13:40 , Daniel Keane

Passengers at Manchester and Birmingham airports shared pictures on social media of lines stretching far away from check-in desks on Thursday morning, with one saying the situation was “utterly shambolic”.

Images on social media showed a large number of people waiting for Tui check-in desks at Manchester Airport, with other customers telling of a 90-minute wait for luggage.

A firm spokesperson said: “We can confirm that unfortunately due to staff shortages at Manchester Airport today, some customers are experiencing longer-than-usual queue times at check-in.

“Please be assured that our teams are working as quickly as they can.”

Ryanair IT failure causes disruption

14:29 , Daniel Keane

Ryanair has said that a “reservations sytem failure” is causing disruption to passengers - meaning they cannot check in for flights or book tickets for departures in April.

A message on the airline’s website said: “We are working with our reservations system provider, Navitaire, to restore these systems as soon as possible.

“Any passengers who have not already checked in online, may have difficulty doing so for the next couple of hours and they can check-in at the airport free of charge while we restore the Navitaire system.

“We apologise sincerely for any inconvenience suffered by passengers as a result of this brief disruption to April bookings & check-in.

“There is no disruption to bookings being made in May, June July or thereafter & all today’s flights are operating as scheduled.”

In pictures: Long queues at Heathrow amid flight delays

14:59 , Daniel Keane

Traffic numbers to soar, says Waze

15:28 , Daniel Keane

Satellige navigation company Waze are predicting a “huge surge” in traffic this Easter weekend.

Ru Roberts, UK Country Manager at Waze, said: “With lengthy queues at Dover, cancelled flights mounting and the closure of key rail services and underground lines, we expect to see huge surges in traffic and delays around airports and motorways.

“Last weekend, many drivers tried to get ahead of the rush and we saw a 27 per cent increase in driven miles on Waze compared to pre-COVID driving levels.”

Mr Roberts added that recent fuel shortages would also impact roads as drivers “seek competitively priced fuel”.

16:01 , Daniel Keane

Supplies of petrol and diesel at filling stations in some areas of the country are running at around half their usual level, new figures suggest.

Petrol stock levels at garages in south-east England were recording 21 per cent and London 22 per cent on Thursday afternoon, a drop from the pre-pandemic average of 40 per cent.

In London, diesel stock levels have dropped to 24 per cent, down from 46 per cent re-pandemic, while in south-east England they have fallen to 26 per cent, down from 47 per cent.

The average price of a litre of unleaded petrol stood at 161.8p as of April 11, slightly below the recent record of 165.4p, while diesel was 176.2p, below the recent record of 177.5p.