South East travellers face disruption on Christmas getaway

Gatwick Airport will be open on Christmas Day but the busiest day will be Friday

As the South East of England prepares for the festive getaway on Friday, Gatwick Airport says it is ready.

The airport will be open all over Christmas, with 254 flights scheduled for 25 December.

Dubai is expected to be the most popular long-haul destination with Geneva the favourite for short-haul.

Train companies are advising passengers to check before travelling, with engineering work set to disrupt services over the Christmas period.

Meanwhile, passengers at the Port of Dover have been facing delays after a short-notice strike by workers in France affecting Eurotunnel and Eurostar services, with a knock-on effect at the port for those travelling by ferry.

Eurostar and Eurotunnel were suspended during the day on Thursday, causing a large backlog of passengers.

South Western Railway is encouraging people to only travel if necessary on certain routes

On the railways, all train services will finish early on 24 December, with no services on Christmas Day and a limited Southern service on 26 December between London and Gatwick, with some services continuing to Three Bridges and Brighton.

Thameslink, South Western Railway and Southeastern will have no service on 26 December.

Southeastern is also warning of major changes to train services with London Victoria closed for engineering works between 23 December and 1 January.

Services will be diverted to other London termini, with passengers being urged to check before they travel.

Elsewhere, South Western Railway is telling passengers to only travel if necessary between 27 and 29 December on certain parts of its network.

Two of the lines between Woking and Brookwood will be closed to repair a landslip, which occurred in November.

Southeastern services have already been affected by a shortage of train crew across their network, with trains between Sittingbourne and Sheerness not running on Friday.