Dover ferry port declares an emergency
Summer holidays in the UK start with traffic chaos
07/22/2022, 12:13 p.m
At the start of the summer holidays in England, traffic chaos loomed on the streets on Friday. According to the news channel Sky News, the ferry port in Dover declared an emergency in the morning because traffic on the access roads had come to a standstill.
The port authorities blamed the French authorities for this. The staffing at passport control, which takes place on the British side, was “deplorably insufficient” during the night and in the morning, according to a statement from the port. Despite months of preparation for the expected onslaught, insufficient resources were made available.
But the background is also Brexit. British holidaymakers entering the European Union are now required to have their passports stamped because they are only allowed to stay in EU member states for 90 days at a time. “It’s something we insisted on when we left the EU,” British travel reporter Simon Calder said on Sky News television.
In addition to the difficulties in the English Channel, protests against high fuel prices were announced on important transport axes in Great Britain. The protesters wanted to move in extremely slow columns of vehicles on roads such as the M5 north-south axis and the M4 east-west axis to disrupt the flow of traffic. The route is especially important for holidaymakers who are on holiday in their own country. The chaos on the streets is expected to intensify over the weekend.