Eurostar strike, French wildfires and traffic delays: UK holidaymakers heading abroad face myriad travel woes

British travellers facing a series of obscacles as they head off to Europe for their hard-earned summer breaks

People waiting for a Eurostar train during a 24 hour strike (ZUMA/REX/Shutterstock)

Close to 300,000 British holidaymakers are expected to travel across the Channel to France on trains, boats and planes between now and Sunday - but they face a series of impediments.

Staff on Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel began seven days of strike action, in protest against what they regard as unfair rosters.

The only impact of the RMT train managers’ strike so far today is the cancellation of the 8.04am from London St Pancras to Lille and Brussels, and the return trip at lunchtime. Tomorrow, Eurostar says it will run a full service.

Four services between London and Paris will be cancelled on Sunday, and two more on Monday. But Eurostar says it can carry all passengers - even if some of them have to switch departures by an hour or two. The next tranche of strike action is 27-29 August, over the bank holiday weekend.

The Foreign Office says the road network in France is predicted to be “exceptionally busy” tomorrow and Sunday. It says: “Leave extra time for your journey and expect congestion”. To make matters worse, The autoroute du Soleil, the main artery to the South of France, is closed southbound between Lyon and Marseille because of forest fires.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters are tackling the blazes north of Marseille, which have been fuelled by very hot, dry conditions. The local authority says the fires are being brought under control, but the route between Marseille and its airport is “extremely disturbed,” and airline passengers are recommend to use the train link from the city to the airport.

Fires are also affecting the Portuguese island of Madeira. The situation is described as “complex not catastrophic”. But one five-star hotel, the Choupana Hills Resort and Spa, on the northern outskirts of the capital, Funchal, is reported to have been destroyed by fire after all the guests and staff were evacuated.