UK travel news: Roads and trains face disruption on Easter weekend
Travellers should plan ahead, according to experts
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Your support makes all the difference.The great Easter getaway began on Thursday 18 April, with disruption on the roads and rail lines.
Stations and routes were closed for the weekend, while 12 million road journeys were taken over the Easter period.
Extinction Rebellion protestors threatened to shut down Heathrow on Good Friday.
If you're flying to Europe this Easter, there will also be disruption.
It's predicted to be the busiest Easter on record for the UK's major airports, and there are strikes in Spain and Portugal.
Security staff at Madrid airport have been on strike for the past week in a pay dispute, with long waits building up – last weekend it took as long as 90 minutes to get through security checkpoints. Security staff at railway stations in Madrid will be striking for two hours a day until 28 April.
There is a risk of severe storms in the Costa del Sol area today, affecting flights to the leading holiday airport of Malaga.
Worse disruption is expected when around 60,000 ground staff at Spanish airports strike on Easter Sunday and the following Wednesday, 24 April. The industrial action is being coordinated by the Union Sindical Obrera and Union General de Trabajadores in a dispute over workers’ contracts. Talks with the employers were held on Wednesday but broke down, and the stoppages look like going ahead.
The Spanish government has stipulated that 45 per cent of international flights must operate, along with all scheduled departures between Spain’s islands and the mainland.
For more information on disruption in Europe over Easter, see Simon Calder's explainer here.
As well as Euston station being closed, other journeys on the West Coast train line will be affected over the Easter weekend.
From Friday 19 to Sunday 21 April, rail replacement coaches will operate between Rugby – Coventry – Birmingham International.
From Saturday 20 to Monday 22 April, services between Crewe and Preston will be diverted via Manchester Piccadilly, with extended journey times.
On Saturday 20 and Monday 22 April (until midday), there will be no train services from Lancaster to Glasgow Central / Edinburgh; rail replacement coaches will be in operation.
On Sunday 21 April, there will be no train services from Preston to Glasgow Central / Edinburgh; rail replacement coaches will be in operation.
On Sunday 21 April, services between Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street will be diverted via Stockport, not calling at Runcorn. West Midlands Trains will operate between Crewe and Runcorn.
Various other routes are only operating one train per hour:
TfL has announced several travel updates for the London Underground over Easter weekend.
On Friday 19 and Monday 22 April, there will be no service between Edgware Road and Aldgate (via Victoria) on the Circle line due to track maintenance work. Travellers are advised to use alternative Tube and local bus routes.
On Friday 19 and Monday 22 April, there will be no service between Aldgate East and Barking on the Hammersmith & City line due to track replacement work. Rail replacement buses will run.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April, there will be no service between Liverpool Street and Barking on the Hammersmith & City line due to track replacement work. Rail replacement buses will run.
On Good Friday 19 and Easter Monday 22 April, there will be no service between Hammersmith and Barking or Edgware and Wimbledon / Kensington (Olympia) on the District line. Travellers are advised to use alternative Tube and local bus routes.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April, there will be no service between Earl’s Court and Wimbledon or Aldgate East and Barking on the District line. Rail replacement buses will run.
Piccadilly Circus in London is also being "blocked intermittently" by climate change protesters. Waterloo Bridge and Oxford Circus are still closed.
Transport for London advises using alternative routes.
If you're planning on taking one of the predicted 12 million leisure journeys this Easter weekend, make sure you have enough water with you. The weather is going to be sunny, warm and dry, according to the Met Office.
The Met Office and the RAC have some tips for those driving this weekend:
Extinction Rebellion activists have threatened to disrupt Heathrow Airport tomorrow, which could cause chaos to travellers over the Easter weekend.
The UK's major airports are expected to be extremely busy this weekend with Easter traffic.
TfL has warned of planned disruption on the London Overground this Easter weekend.
Until further notice (except during planned line closures) there will be a reduced service every day between Gospel Oak and Barking. This is due to a lack of available trains. Trains will run about every 30 minutes. Supplementary buses will also run.
From Good Friday 19 until Easter Monday 22 April there will be no service between Gospel Oak and Barking. Rail replacement buses will run between Gospel Oak and Seven Sisters (for South Tottenham) and between Walthamstow Central and Barking. Use Tube or local bus services between Seven Sisters and Walthamstow Central.
There will also be no service between Euston and Kilburn High Road. Use Tube or local bus services.
Trains will not stop at Whitechapel; use local bus route 205 to/from Shoreditch High Street or bus route D3 to/from Shadwell.
On Friday 19 and Monday 22 April, there will be a reduced service between Stratford and Willesden Junction / Richmond; trains will run about every 15 minutes.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April, there will be no service between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction. Use local buses.
On Sunday 21 April, there will be no service between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town / Cheshunt (via Seven Sisters) / Chingford until 10.15am: use Tube or local bus services between Liverpool Street and Seven Sisters. Rail replacement buses will run between Seven Sisters and Enfield Town / Cheshunt and between Hackney Downs and Chingford.
There will also be no service between Sydenham and Crystal Palace on Sunday. Use local buses; rail replacement buses will run between Crystal Palace and Norwood Junction / West Croydon.
From Monday 22 until Thursday 25 April, there will be no service between Hackney Downs and Enfield Town / Cheshunt (via Seven Sisters) after 10.30pm on Monday, and after 10.45pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Rail replacement buses will be running.
There are plenty of works disrupting rail journeys across the country this Easter weekend:
London Fenchurch Street will be closed, with trains to south Essex running to nearby Liverpool Street instead.
Also in the capital, some lines through Wimbledon – on the main line southwest from Waterloo to Guildford, Portsmouth, Southampton and Salisbury – will be closed from Good Friday to Easter Monday.
South Western Railways services will be “altered, diverted or cancelled”.
Airline passengers heading to and from Gatwick will face problems on Good Friday and Easter Saturday, when there will be no Gatwick Express services. Travellers can use the line from London Bridge instead.
On the East Midlands network, trains from London St Pancras will not call at Derby. The Thameslink line will also be disconnected at London St Pancras.
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