Calais crisis - in pictures

Migrants climbing into the back of a lorry on the A16 highway in northern France leading to the Channel Tunnel (Getty Images)

British holidaymakers and lorry-drivers trying to cross the channel are being confronted with chaos thanks to a strike that had closed the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel.

Striking French ferry workers blockaded the port with a wall of flaming tyres, before forcing the closure of the Channel Tunnel by getting on to the tracks.

Some of the 3,000 migrants camped at Calais are reportedly trying to exploit the strike by jumping on to slow-going lorries.

Striking employees of the French company MyFerryLink, a cross-channel ferry service, stand in front of tyres set on fire as they block the access to the Channel Tunnel in Calais (Getty) (PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Striking employees of the French company My Ferry Link prepare to set tyres on fire to block the access to the Channel Tunnel (PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)

A striking employee sits on a tyre in front of tyres set on fire as he takes part in a blockade (PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Migrants wait near the A16 highway as they try to access the Channel Tunnel in Calais (Getty) (PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)

A police officer sprays tear gas to migrants (PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Protesting French employees of the company English Channel passenger and freight ferry company "MyFerryLink" block the railway tracks of the Eurostar Channel tunnel line in Calais (Getty) (Getty Images)

Protesting French employees block the railway tracks of the Eurostar Channel tunnel line with a burning plastic barrier

French riot police take position to drive out protesters blocking the railway tracks (Getty) (Getty Images)

French riot police officers drive out protesting French employees of the freight ferry company MyFerryLink (Getty) (Getty Images)

Cars queue to board a ferry in Dover bound for Dunkirk

A police vehicle drives past lorries are backed up on the M20 motorway which leads from London to the Channel Tunnel terminal at Ashford and the Ferry Terminal at Dover

Trucks queue up as part of Operation Stack in Dover

Passengers stranded by the cancellation of Eurostar trains wait at St. Pancras station in Londonarmed the train line setting tires alight

Passengers sit on stairs after being stranded by cancelled Eurostar trains at St. Pancras station in London