Frantic Friday begins! Bank Holiday travellers face lengthy queues
Bank Holiday travellers looking to get away this weekend have been hit with long queues and travel delays as ‘Frantic Friday’ begins.
Pictures show holidaymakers facing a long wait to get into Manchester Airport today with a queue that snaked all the way back to the car park.
Passengers were left stranded outside Terminal 1 following reports of baggage issues at the airport.
It comes as 16 million people in the UK were also set to hit the roads today for their long weekend getaways, according to the RAC.
Motorists were stuck in lengthy delays on the M4 and the A102(M) Blackwall Tunnel in Greenwich, South East London was also brought to a standstill.
Pictures show holidaymakers facing a long wait to get into Manchester Airport today with a queue that snaked all the way back to the car park
Motorists were stuck in lengthy delays as 16 million Brits hit the road for their weekend getaways
Getaway traffic started to build this morning before peaking tomorrow at 3.3million journeys, according to research by the RAC and transport analytics firm Inrix.
A further 2.3million and 2.6million separate getaway trips are planned on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday respectively, while another 5.6million are expected to be made at some point over the weekend by drivers still deciding which day to travel.
Parts of the North West, East Anglia and South West are likely to be hardest hit by traffic returning home on Monday. And those wanting to avoid the worst congestion were urged to travel before 9am or after 5pm throughout the bank holiday period.
Train stations have also been packed with passengers this afternoon with Kings Cross Station in London being particularly busy.
It comes as train passengers have been told to prepare for severe disruption this weekend and into next week as ongoing engineering work coincides with industrial action.
Network Rail said it has 487 projects planned between Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday.
On Sunday, no trains will run between London Euston and Milton Keynes, or between Glasgow and England due to engineering works on the West Coast Main Line.
Train drivers who are members of the Aslef union are due to start a six-day overtime ban on Monday which is expected to cause short-term cancellations.
Traffic on the A102(M) Blackwall Tunnel approach in Greenwich, South East London, today
Rail passengers at London King’s Cross station today as the bank holiday getaway begins
There will also be three one-day strikes across different operators between May 7 and 9.
The early May bank holiday weekend has already been blighted with heavy rain with the Met Office warning that there would be showers throughout the day.
Forecasters said conditions this weekend would remain mixed, with most areas of the UK likely to experience some rain.
However temperatures will stay fairly warm, in the mid to late teens with highs of 18C (64F) in the South and 16C (61F) in the North.
