France suspends extra EU border checks at Dover after hours-long queues
After thousands of holidaymakers arriving in Dover waited long lines in soaring temperatures, French officials have suspended additional EU border checks.
The port said they had escalated the challenging situation
with border officials, and the change would help clear queues at the terminal and congestion on surrounding roads.
Travellers had already faced delays of two hours before arriving at the port and then to a longer two and half hours to complete processing at the terminal on Saturday morning.
According to the port, traffic was slow moving
by lunchtime, and the processing time at check-in was under an hour.
The May bank holiday is being used as a launching pad for new European Union border checks.
At Dover, travelers must pass through French border checks before boarding a cross-Channel ferry.
Biometric checks, including fingerprinting and facial scanning, are set to be included in the EUropean Union's new digital platform, the Entry/Exit System (EES).
French authorities have yet to decide on the machines that will be used for these checks at the port, but border officials at Dover are still having to create profiles for travelers. This in turn resulted in longer lines this weekend.
Now that these additional steps have been implemented, traffic jams are decreasing, and traffic delays are starting to decrease.
Any border crossing in 29 participating countries in the Schengen Zone will eventually be operational at every border crossing.
Passengers who miss their ferry crossing due to waiting times will be able to travel on the next available crossing, according to the port.
LeShuttle has also reported delays of around one and a half hours in train operations between Folkestone and Calais. Processing times at the border were reported to be longer than average.
It comes as the United Kingdom is set to celebrate an unusually hot May bank holiday.
Temperatures are forecast to rise on Saturday after the year's warmest day was recorded on Friday, with a peak of 28. Heathrow, Cranwell, Lincolnshire, and Cambridge are among the visitors at Heathfield's 4C.
In several places, daytime temperatures are expected to hit the upper 20s Celsius, with the low 30s Celsius likely in the coming week.
Amber heat health warnings have been issued for areas of England, with temperatures expected to climb above 30 degrees over the weekend. The May record is 32. 8C.
