The port of Dover is bracing for long tailbacks as thousands of holidaymakers join lorries at Britain's main Channel ferry crossing from 6am today, with the EU's new border controls set to create traffic chaos despite £40m in infrastructure investments that can't be used due to software failures.
French border police stationed at Dover will manually register non-EU travellers for the EU's entry-exit system, or EES. The new £40m automated facility built to speed passengers through is unable to operate because of software problems in France. Even though the French police aux frontières, or PAF, won't be able to carry out the biometric registration required by EES — photographing and fingerprinting — the extra time needed to create a file for each visitor could still lead to long queues at the border, the port fears.
The Infrastructure That Doesn't Work
About 7,500 cars travelling to France are expected at Dover today, and 10,000 tomorrow, as peak summer season begins. The port has urged holidaymakers to use only main roads when driving to the port and arrive no more than two hours before their booked sailing.
Eurotunnel, operator of LeShuttle, said it didn't anticipate delays as summer traffic built up. Border police there will also not be registering biometric information from car passengers for EES this summer. Eurotunnel has spent millions of pounds on automated processing kiosks that cannot yet be brought into service.
The Domestic Alternative
The RAC and Inrix expect the worst traffic today in areas of the M25 around Greater London linking to the M3 to the southwest, as more than 14 million drivers make a getaway this weekend. With most schools in England and Wales closing this weekend for the summer, most leisure journeys will take place tomorrow, the RAC said, as part of the biggest domestic getaway since four years ago.
Harriet Hernando, a spokesperson, said: "The great British summer staycation is about to get off to a flying start, with many opting to stay in the UK instead of travelling abroad. This could be down to people having more confidence in the weather, as well as concerns over cancelled flights, higher air fares and EU border delays, which are no fun with a family in tow." She added: "People should prepare for delays and getting stuck in a jam in potentially very hot weather."
The AA said its surveys showed about one in five drivers would be setting off on a leisure journey of 100 miles or more in the next week, the busiest week of the summer for road trips, with more potentially drawn to the coast if hot weather persists.
Airport Delays Expected
London Heathrow airport said this weekend would see the start of its peak summer season, with today likely to be the busiest day. Travel association Abta expects the main getaway for Britons going abroad to follow next weekend.
Passengers flying into the Schengen area of 29 EU countries will undertake EES formalities at the airport on landing and departure. Europe's biggest carrier, Ryanair, warned again this week that UK passengers could be "the testing ground for unfinished border infrastructure" and told customers to prepare for long possible queues. It identified Lisbon, Tenerife South, Alicante, Malaga and Milan Bergamo as "recurring hotspots" for EES-related delays.
Why This Matters:
The EU's entry-exit system was supposed to strengthen border security through biometric registration. Instead, it's created a cautionary tale about Brussels-led digital infrastructure projects. Britain and France have spent tens of millions on automated facilities that can't function because of software problems — money that could've been spent on hiring more border staff or improving physical infrastructure. The system's failure highlights a recurring problem with EU-wide technology initiatives: they're designed centrally but must work in dozens of different national contexts, often with predictable results. For British travellers, the immediate consequence is clear — longer queues, manual processing, and uncertainty about whether their summer holiday will start with hours stuck at Dover or a Spanish airport. For governments, it's a reminder that border control remains fundamentally a national responsibility, and that grand EU schemes often struggle with basic implementation.