BRITS are facing Christmas getaway chaos – battling massive queues at train stations in a mad dash to get home for the holidays.
Traffic is already building up at the Port of Dover as French border control staff go on strike.
Stuart BrockCars queuing at the Port of Dover this morning[/caption]
Jeremy SelwynThe massive queue for the Eurostar at King’s Cross[/caption]
LNPQueues for check-in at Manchester Airport[/caption]
Ferry passengers face long delays, with P&0 and DFDS both confirming their services will be packed.
Snaps also showed massive queues for the Eurostar at St Pancras, after passengers were left stranded by another French strike yesterday.
As for car journeys, the RAC says 3.2million festive motorists will today share the roads with shoppers and commuters.
The M62 near Manchester has been closed in both directions between junction 21 and junction 22 following a “serious collision” last night.
Delays are also expected on the M4, M25, M1 and M6, with the AA issuing an “amber traffic warning”.
The A5 in Staffordshire has also been closed off following another “serious collision”.
Bus and rail services have been halted in Northern Ireland as Translink workers go on strike for the third day in just over a week.
In Scotland, journeys by road, rail and air are all likely to be longer following a Met Office yellow warning for snow and ice.
It comes after Storm Pia yesterday sparked Christmas getaway chaos as 80mph winds battered Britain and halted festive travel plans.
Strong winds blasted most of the country, with felled trees blocking roads, dozens of flights grounded and trains cancelled.
The Eurostar was suddenly halted yesterday by a workers’ strike, trapping those trying to get home for their winter holiday.
British Airways grounded two dozen domestic and European flights to and from London Heathrow, including multiple links to and from Amsterdam.
Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow were also among the routes experiencing cancellations.
All trains to and from London Euston were cancelled after overhead electric wires toppled onto the lines at Watford Junction.
The concourse at Euston was packed with passengers who had hoped to get a train home for Christmas from the station.
Snaps taken this morning show delayed passengers queuing up at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 1.
Pilots battled to land a diverted plane at Birmingham Airport in 50mph crosswinds.
A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Manchester also aborted its landing moments before its wheels touched the tarmac.
TransPennine Express issued a “Do Not Travel” warning until 3pm for customers planning to head to and from Edinburgh.
ScotRail had also cancelled trains along seven routes including Inverness to Aberdeen.
Kings Cross St Pancras was flooded with distraught travellers left stranded by the Eurostar walkout earlier.
All schools in the Shetland Islands were shut as locals bunker down against the storm.
Locals reeled as the wind blew smashed glass into the entrance of an M&S in Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Christmas markets in Liverpool and Hereford shut following the yellow warning
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