Passengers face Christmas travel chaos amid ferry queues and train cancellations

RAC warns when drivers can expect the worst hold-ups during the festive period

Thousands of passengers heading for a Christmas getaway are facing travel chaos amid long queues towards the Port of Dover and major train cancellations.

Ferry passengers have been advised to “not arrive any earlier than two hours before their scheduled sailing”, as delays were experienced on the approach to the Kent port on Sunday morning.

Nearly 30,000 cars are estimated to embark on outbound sailings during the festive period.

Peak traffic at the port will be between 6am and 1pm, when P&O Ferries, which operates some sailings from the port, urged customers to allow extra time for their journey.

Thousands of passengers heading for a Christmas getaway are facing travel chaos (PA Wire)

Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, said: "To help ensure a smooth departure, we kindly ask all customers travelling with our ferry partners not to arrive any earlier than two hours before their scheduled sailing, just as you would if departing from a UK airport, and greatly appreciate everyone's patience should there be any additional waiting time due to the high volumes of traffic."

Meanwhile, rail passengers planning to travel on Cross Country trains faced cancellations amid a shortage of drivers.

The operator warned customers that services were set to be busier than normal.

A number of services between Manchester and Birmingham were cancelled on Sunday afternoon, with disruption expected until the end of the day.

Sunday is forecast to be quieter than Saturday on the roads, but motorists are still facing delays on the M25 clockwise from Junction 15 to Junction 19.

A total of 3.5 million car journeys are expected on Sunday, according to RAC research, but motorists planning last-minute travel could face heavy traffic as 4.2 million getaways are predicted on Christmas Eve, which would make it the single busiest day over the period.

Drivers are being warned the worst hold-ups on December 24 will be between 11am and 7pm.

RAC figures suggest it could be the busiest Christmas getaway on record, with a total of 37.5 million leisure trips between Wednesday and Christmas Eve - the most in the week before Christmas Day since the company began recording the data in 2013.