Holidaymakers driven mad as Easter getaway stalled by strom and floods

EASTER travellers were caught in getaway hell yesterday with two-hour traffic delays, railway chaos and flood alerts ensuring a bad Friday for holidaymakers.

- Jan Disley

Families driving to the continent were left angry and frustrated by gridlocked traffic after high winds from the Spanish-named Storm Nelson hit Channel crossings.

At Dover, vacationers and truckers were left waiting for hours after choppy conditions on Thursday night led to some ferries being cancelled.

An estimated 20,000 cars and 9,000 lorries are expected through the Kent port over the Easter holiday weekend, and main roads were jam packed with cars, coaches and lorries yesterday.

A staggering 2.6 million car journeys are thought to have been made on Good Friday alone, with 11 million people planning an overnight trip somewhere this weekend.

Airports and airlines said they are expecting "record-breaking" passenger numbers this Easter.

Manchester airport is preparing for about 320,000 travellers this weekend, 8% more than this time last year.

But ferry passengers at Dover were left in despair yesterday, with officials warning of two-hour hold-ups for tourists, blaming the "backlog" from the bad weather.

As cars queued, many passengers simply got out of their vehicles in the slow-moving lines. P&O Ferries said there were also long queues at the French border control thanks to heightened security following the terror attack in Moscow last week.