Port of Dover delays: Passengers stranded for hours as ‘critical incident’ declared
Passengers have told of their ordeal after being stranded for hours at the Port of Dover as delays triggered a “critical incident”.
One woman told Sky News she had been waiting on a bus for “12 hours already”, while concerned parents reported on Twitter that their children had been stranded for longer than that, delaying the start of their school trips.
The port said coach processing times inside the terminal are “improving” and are now between one to hours, with one hour waits for cars.
In a statement, it blamed “lengthy French border processes” and the “sheer volume” of traffic on the first day of the school Easter holidays.
Port chief executive Doug Bannister told Sky News that although plans for the holiday period were in place months ago it had 15% more coaches than anticipated and bad weather on Friday caused further delays.
He said that with only half the number of coaches booked in for Sunday, he hopes the backlog will clear “overnight or into tomorrow morning”.
Rosie, a woman travelling on a coach with her family, said they were “left overnight” with “no idea how long we’ll be here”.
Lorry queues near Dover on Saturday morning
“We’ve been waiting for 12 hours already and it’ll be at least another two or three before we get on the ferry,” she told Sky News on Saturday morning.
“It’s very frustrating. I’m an environmental campaigner, I forced my family to get on this bus instead of flying.
“It’s supposed to be an easy overnight trip, but it’s absolute carnage and there’s no excuse for it at all.”
Up to 40 coaches stranded in parks overnight
Mr Bannister said between 20 and 40 coaches were rediverted to local coach parks overnight.
“We started calling them through in the early hours of the morning as soon as there was space,” he said.
Simon Lyons, who is taking his son’s football team to Amsterdam, has been stuck in the coach queue at Dover for “a couple of hours”.
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‘There is a lack of French border staff’
He told Sky News the group of teenagers are 48th in the queue to be checked, but there are currently no ferries departing due to the build up of traffic.
“There’s a real lack of French border staff,” he said.
“We thought coach and ferry was the way to go, but the situation on the ground is not good.
“Speaking to the staff here and they say it’s entirely down to what happened with Brexit. Each individual passport needs to be individually stamped and that’s why it’s taking so long.”
One person posted on Twitter: “My children have been sat on their school coach overnight and are still awaiting news from P&O on when they can move from the buffer zone!”
While another wrote: “My daughter has been in a queue since midnight. Still no idea when the coach will be allowed to board.”
Asked whether the delays were the result of Brexit, Mr Bannister added: “It does make processing more challenging.”
Port staff ‘deeply frustrated’
The port – which declared the critical incident – said in a statement: “The Port of Dover is deeply frustrated by last night’s and this morning’s situation and particularly so on behalf of all the ferry operators’ coach passengers who have had to endure such a long wait at the port.
“Whilst freight and car traffic was processed steadily regardless of the additional challenging weather conditions and high seasonal volumes, coach traffic suffered significant delays due to lengthy French border processes and sheer volume.”
The port added that “additional coach bookings taken by ferry operators for Easter has impacted operations for the port”.
P&O Ferries said that after a two or three-hour wait, coach passengers will be “on the next crossing to Calais… as soon as you are through passport control”.
It added that it is providing refreshments to coach passengers who have been stuck at the cruise terminal for hours and also trying to get food and drink to people in the buffer zone.
The company blamed “the time it is taking to process each vehicle at French border controls” for the delays.
DFDS Seaways apologised for waits of “up to 120 minutes” for coaches and cars.
It said it is “operating a cross channel shuttle service” so “all passengers can be shipped on the first available departure upon arrival at check in”.
The company added in a tweet that traffic is “flowing freely” at Dover but “car traffic is very busy”.
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Follow live: Latest updates as flights halted
Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
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