Millions of people in the UK are expected to hit the roads on Good Friday, as strong winds from the Spanish-named Storm Nelson hit the start of the Easter getaway.
The ferry company DFDS reported that its services at Dover were running with delays “due to strong winds in the Channel” as the long weekend got under way, with 2 million British holidaymakers scheduled to travel abroad.
Storm Nelson arrived with gusts of 50mph forecast quite widely, according to a Met Office yellow weather warning for wind throughout Friday covering London and the south-east, the south-west and east of England.
Great Western Railway closed a number of lines on Thursday because of flooding. All lines between Westbury and Swindon were shut and the main line from Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads was also closed.
The travel trade organisation Abta said airports were reporting “strong numbers”, with 175,000 due to leave from Stansted, 105,000 from Luton, 160,000 from Manchester, 79,000 from Birmingham, and 89,000 from Edinburgh between Friday and Monday.
Good Friday is set to be a day of sunshine and blustery scattered showers, coming after unsettled conditions including hailstones in parts of Cornwall.
The Met Office yellow weather warning for wind suggests that some exposed coastal spots may experience gusts of 60 to 70mph, with large waves also likely.
It adds: “The strong winds will be accompanied by heavy, squally showers with the possibility of hail and thunder in some locations. Hail won’t fall everywhere but where it does it can quickly make road surfaces slippery, while surface water and spray are likely to worsen travel conditions rather more widely.”
A Met Office yellow weather warning for rain in parts of Northern Ireland runs to the early hours of Friday. It states: “Accumulations of 15-25mm expected widely. Some places are likely to see 25-30mm, locally in excess of 40mm, especially across the Antrim hills.”
Elsewhere, in any sunshine it could feel warm, with highs of 14C expected in the south-east of England but there is the risk of the odd thunderstorm, the Met Office said.
The driest weather was expected in the far north-east of the UK with a windy start to the day in many regions.
Deputy chief meteorologist Dan Harris said: “The weather is expected to gradually improve following the widely unsettled spell of the past few days, with a fairly typical mix of spring-like weather across the UK.
“There will be some sunshine, and it will feel increasingly warm for most as the winds become lighter.”
The west and especially the south-west were though likely to experience some passing showers, he said, which could be quite heavy and frequent.
Eastern coastal districts were also forecast to feel increasingly cold with an onshore breeze developing along with persistent low cloud in some areas.
The RAC and the transport analysis company Inrix commissioned a survey that suggested 2.6m leisure journeys by car would be made on Good Friday.
The lengthiest delays were expected to be between 11am and 3pm, with drivers advised to set off as early as possible or wait until later in the afternoon.
Two popular routes for holidaymakers, the M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton, and the M3 between the M25 and the south coast, wereexpected to be congested.
Network Rail urged train passengers to check their journey details before they travelled because some major routes would be closed due to engineering work.
The West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes is shut for four days from Good Friday.
There will also be disruption in the areas around Glasgow and Huddersfield.
Tourist board VisitEngland said about 11 million people in the UK were planning an overnight Easter trip, generating an estimated £3.2bn for the economy.
