Summary

  • Holidaymakers and hauliers face a third day of disruption at the Channel Tunnel, but the delays at Dover appear to have eased

  • Folkestone has become the "hotspot of holiday hell", according to the AA - it says drivers still face "lengthy delays" heading to the Eurotunnel terminal

  • It added drivers trying to find alternative routes are causing a knock-on effect in other parts of Kent

  • Members of the Coast Guard have been handing out bottled water to drivers queuing to enter the Eurotunnel terminal

  • Meanwhile, at the Port of Dover there are queues of up to an hour to clear passport control

Live Reporting

Edited by Chris Giles

  1. Road infrastructure needs government investment - Kent council

    Traffic queues on the M20 near Folkestone in KentPA Media

    Improvements to the road infrastructure leading to the English Channel should be treated as “projects of national significance”, Roger Gough, leader of Kent council, tells the BBC.

    “It clearly has a horrible effect on people in Kent and a damaging effect,” he says.

    “It is also significant from the point of view of the country as a whole - this is the artery through which so much of our trade goes.”

  2. Around the clock efforts to clear backlog at Dover

    Cars queue at the check-in at the Port of Dover in KentPA Media

    Authorities have worked "around the clock" to help both holidaymakers and lorries get across the channel from Dover, the port says.

    Around 72,000 passengers - more than 200 miles of tourist and freight traffic combined - had been processed by Sunday morning.

    In a statement, the port said: "The backlog of tourist passengers that was generated on Friday has also now been cleared along with successfully getting Saturday's holidaymakers off on their way."

    Chief executive Doug Bannister has thanked travellers and Dover residents for their understanding during what he described as a "challenging period".

  3. More investment promised, but challenging times ahead

    Lorries queuing during Operation Brock on the M20 near Ashford in KentPA Media

    Lorries queuing during Operation Brock on the M20 near Ashford in Kent

    Hundreds of lorries are still queuing on the M20 in Kent following the disruption to cross-Channel travel - causing delays to travellers heading to the Eurotunnel terminal and Port of Dover.

    The hold-ups have led to renewed calls for the Department for Transport to do more to get heavy goods vehicles off the roads when there is cross-Channel disruption.

    The DfT says it is investing more than £30m to improve lorry parking facilities in England.

    But for now the warning is that the coming months are set to be challenging.

    And the major incident declared by the authorities remains in force.

  4. Has your journey been affected?

    If you've been affected by the delays at the Channel Tunnel or at the Port of Dover you can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

    Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

  5. 'Dover is busy, but in Folkestone it’s chaos'

    Simon Jones
    Reporting from Dover

    This morning it’s a tale of two towns.

    Dover is busy, but the roads are largely moving freely and any congestion is being controlled. In Folkestone though, it’s chaos.

    Drivers are struggling to get to the Eurotunnel terminal. Part of the M20 is shut to park 600 lorries - so the rest of the traffic is being diverted onto other roads, and those roads simply can’t cope.

    The queues are so long that food and drink is being handed out to weary motorists.

    Eurotunnel says once people get to the terminal, the trains are running, and they’ll only have a couple of hours to wait.

    But it says it can’t control the roads outside the terminal - all it can do is keep passengers up-to-date with the latest information.

    The company is expecting 7,000 cars to travel today. Their journeys may not be smooth.

  6. Family makes it to Eurotunnel terminal after 21-hour wait

    Andrew Dyer-Smith and his family, who are heading to France for their summer holiday, spent 21 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic on roads around Folkestone.

    "We arrived at Folkestone at 9am yesterday morning for a train at 10.30 and then have been slowly crawling along for the last 21-plus hours," he told BBC's Breakfast.

    He said his children in the backseat were dishevelled but had managed to sleep a bit, while he and his wife had taken the wheel in shifts to snatch some sleep.

    While speaking live to Breakfast, the family erupted in cheers as they were finally able to board the train.

  7. Traffic heading to Eurotunnel now main cause for concern - AA

    Cars queued on road to Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone

    The AA has told us this morning that "it does seem that Folkestone and the Eurotunnel is now the main cause for concern".

    Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA says "due to Operation Brock stacking lanes of lorries which need to be cleared and the subsequent diversion of passenger traffic onto the A20 merging at the terminal, we are still seeing lengthy delays here".

    He adds "by contrast, the Port of Dover seems reasonably quiet".

    Cousens says the AA is advising holidaymakers heading to both destinations to be prepared for delays and take plenty of food and water.

  8. Welcome to our live coverage

    Holidaymakers and hauliers are being warned of another day of disruption at the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Dover, after two days of hold-ups.

    Overnight, people reported sleeping in cars on the road as the approach to the Eurotunnel remained gridlocked.

    Kent Resilience Forum says there are about two miles of queuing vehicles waiting to get to the terminal in Folkestone. It says they handed out food and drink to people who were stuck in tailbacks overnight.

    Meanwhile, in Dover the traffic appears to have eased. Cars this morning were facing 15-minute queues to reach border checks, P&O Ferries said.

    Stay with us for the latest updates.