Easter travel – live: Bank holiday chaos as drivers face 20-mile queues on M4 and M5 and delays at Dover

On the railways, passengers are having to cope with a combination of planned disruption – in the shape of Network Rail engineering closures – and unexpected chaos.

The closure of the West Coast main line between London Euston and Milton Keynes for a upgrade was flagged months in advance, and many people made their journeys between London, the West Midlands, northwest England and southern Scotland late on Thursday before the line was blocked.

The main trans-Pennine route has buses running instead of trains between Manchester and Huddersfield – again, advertised well ahead.

Much of the “on the day” disruption involves Great Western Railway, which serves the West of England and South Wales from London Paddington. The main line to Exeter, the rest of Devon and Cornwall has been closed since last night due to flooding between Newbury and Westbury.

The rail firm is telling passengers: “The flood water has now subsided, however there has been significant damage to the railway infrastructure so Network Rail need to keep the line closed in order to make the railway safe. This disruption is expected to last until the end of the day.

“Our high speed trains between London Paddington and the southwest will divert between Reading and Taunton.”

The trans-Wiltshire railway from Westbury to Swindon is also closed.

Local stations are being linked by taxis organised by GWR.

The Port of Dover has warned delays of up to two hours continue, blaming the backlog on the “adverse weather”.

As of 2pm on Friday, the port said the processing time for tourists was two hours in the wake of Storm Nelson, which battered the UK with wind and rain, causing major travel disruption across the country.

The Met Office has revealed its latest forecast for the Easter weekend.

The forecaster warned of a risk of thunder later today.

Holiday traffic has caused “pretty horrendous” 20-mile long queues on major motorways, adding 45 minutes to journey times.

Around 2.6 million car journeys were expected to be made on Good Friday, with “significant” congestion around the M25 and roads in the South West and South East by lunchtime.

The RAC said holidaymakers heading south were behind much of the congestion after forecasters predicted sunnier spells there over the next few days.

Ted Hennessey reports:

The Met Office has forecast warmer temperatures for the Easter weekend than those of recent days.

The forecaster said Britons can expect rising temperatures for their bank holiday weekend, with highs of 16C predicted for Sunday.

More than 170 flood warnings and alerts remain in place across the UK following Storm Nelson.

As of Friday morning, 152 flood alerts had been issued by the Environment Agency (EA), meaning flooding in those areas is possible, while 21 flood warnings were in place in areas where flooding is expected.

Holiday traffic has caused “pretty horrendous” 20-mile long queues on major motorways, adding 45 minutes to journey times.

Around 2.6 million car journeys were expected to be made on Good Friday, with “significant” congestion around the M25 and roads in the South West and South East by lunchtime.

The RAC said holidaymakers heading south were behind much of the congestion after forecasters predicted sunnier spells there over the next few days.

Queues of 15 to 20 miles were seen on the M4 and M5 interchange near Bristol, which is adding 45 minutes on to journey times.

Meanwhile, the western side of the M25 was described as “pretty bad” and a “lot worse than normal”, with 40-minute queues.

It was also busy on the top-end of the M20, with congestion heading into Folkestone.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams told the PA news agency: “Everyone’s heading to Devon and Cornwall, that’s the attraction, and there’s been a bit of better weather.

“It’s causing some pretty horrendous queues.”

Travel trade organisation Abta had predicted that two million British holidaymakers were set to jet abroad over the four days.

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.

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

The Met Office says the weather is set to improve over the weekend after a wet start for some.

South East England is set to see highs of 16C on Sunday, though elsewhere temperatures will barely get into double figures.

It comes after Storm Nelson brought gusts of 50mph, with a Met Office yellow weather warning for wind covering London and the South East, the South West and east of England on Friday.

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.”

The Independent’s own Simon Calder has reminded us that there is more travel misery on the cards for people coming back from holidays in two weeks time.

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