The Easter holidays have begun, with 2.6 million car journeys expected on the country’s roads today.

Good Friday is likely to be the busiest travel day of the Easter holiday, with more than 2 million people are expected on Easter Monday and 2.3 million people are expected on Saturday and Sunday.

About 20,000 vehicles are expected to pass through the port of Dover between Thursday and Easter Monday, and the port’s chief executive Doug Bannister said Storm Nelson had posed challenges.

“We had a bit of a backlog overnight due to weather affecting sailing, but we’re back on track,” he told Sky News on Friday morning.

He said it took about two hours for tourist vehicles to get through border controls at the port, but the situation was likely to improve as crowds thinned out around mid-afternoon.

Ferry company Stena Line said bookings on Irish Sea routes for Easter weekend 2023 were up 26%.

Travel trade group Abta said airports were reporting “strong numbers”, with 175,000 departing from Stansted, 105,000 from Luton, 160,000 from Manchester and 79,000 from Birmingham between Friday and Monday. , 89,000 departing from Edinburgh.

Turkey, Dubai and the Canary Islands are the most popular foreign destinations, with trips to Dublin also popular.

Manchester Airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said passenger numbers were expected to rise by 7% on the same period last year.

Glasgow expects more than 90,000 passengers over the four days, while Birmingham Airport said it expects a 27.2% increase in departures compared to last year’s Easter period.

Bristol expects 30,000 holiday journeys on Easter Sunday alone, and Liverpool Airport expects around 60,000 passengers over the four days – around 7% more than last year.

Although some rail lines, such as the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes, are closed due to engineering or construction work, there are no reports of major delays at airports or on the railway.

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On the roads, the M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton and the M3 between the M25 and the South Coast are expected to be the most congested.

Weather-wise, the weekend is likely to be unsettled, with sunshine on Friday but scattered showers and the possibility of thunderstorms in the south-east, the Met Office said.

Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Harris said: “After the widespread instability over the past few days, the weather is expected to gradually improve, with fairly typical spring-like weather across the UK.

“There will be some sunshine and as the winds get lighter it will feel warmer and warmer for most people.

“However, showers are also possible in the west, particularly in the south-west, which may be very heavy and frequent at times.

“The eastern seaboard is also likely to feel increasingly colder as onshore breezes develop, which also threatens persistent low clouds in some areas.”