Easter travel chaos on roads, rail and in the sky as Britain 'grinds to a halt'

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Brits looking to get away on an Easter break will face travel chaos on the roads, in the sky, and on the railways this weekend.

With Arctic blizzards hitting the north of the country, many motorists have been left stranded in snow, while severe weather warnings were issued for parts of Scotland, Wales, northern England and the Midlands, where temperatures have dropped as much as 20C since last week's heatwave.

The worst hit areas appear to be around the Pennines, North Yorkshire and Cumbria, with eight inches of snow falling in Durham early yesterday.

Angela Hodson, who runs the Marfit Head Farm campsite, told the Daily Mail: "There are people camping and it's 3ft deep.

"We were in our T-shirts and shorts last week having a barbecue, now look at this. They just want to get out and go home."

Meanwhile, a number of airlines have issued a warning to the Home Secretary that Easter getaway travellers could face 'gridlock' at airports due to immigration staff shortages.

A total of 11 airlines, including British Airways and Virgin, have told Theresa May that passengers face lengthy queues as the UK Border Agency does not have the resources to carry out the stringent passport checks.

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Travel organisation Abta said that around 1.5 million people would be heading off abroad for Easter.

More than 370,000 passengers are expected to leave Heathrow Airport between Good Friday and Easter Monday, and 200,000 will go through Gatwick.

But, according to the BBC, the UK Border Force says it will be recruiting more staff for the holiday period.

On top of this, a French air traffic controllers' strike is also causing chaos. The protest against plans to cut jobs at France's regional hubs has seen hundreds of flights cancelled, with British Airways, Easyjet and Ryanair axing more than 200 flights between them, according to the Independent.

Most of the flights affected are those to and from France, although other services have been cancelled or hit with delays.

Departures from Liverpool, Luton, and Gatwick to Nice have been cancelled, while many people hooping to get home or Easter from France have found their journey thwarted by the controllers' strike.

Even those staying in Britain could face problems on the rail network, with engineering works over Easter disrupting the West Coast mainline.

One piece of good news was that a planned baggage handlers strike over Easter at Stansted has now been suspended.


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