Between storm at sea and shortage of ferries, travelers wishing to cross the Channel on Saturday to go to France from the United Kingdom were called upon to arm themselves with patience while traffic jams multiplied around the British port of Dover.
"Be sure to bring food and drink as there are going to be delays," authorities in Kent, south-east England, have warned as queues to cross the English Channel stretched across the region on Saturday.
Between a storm and the shortage of ferries linked to the layoff in mid-March, overnight, of 800 employees of the shipping company PO, "everything has accumulated", said Saturday on the BBC Toby Howe, a Kent official ResilienceForum.
First holiday since restrictions lifted
“Yes, we had the problems with PO.
We then had a storm at sea which meant that many boats were unable to cross that night,” he said, adding that customs issues, a common occurrence since Brexit, had also slowed the crossing rate.
The chaos comes amid the UK's Easter holidays, the first since the country lifted its coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
Holiday departures were also disrupted at several airports in the United Kingdom, notably in Manchester, in the north-west of England.
Many flights have been canceled due to a staff shortage linked to mass layoffs during the pandemic, aggravated by cases of Covid-19 among airline employees, including EasyJet.
