Sunshine as Britons head out for Easter

Those staying at home were having to contend with congested roads and some disrupted rail services – but were promised warm sunshine over the holiday period.

Temperatures in London and south-east England are likely to reach as high as 24C (75F) today, with the weather nationwide due to stay warm and sunny over the Easter weekend.

But Britons travelling to European hotspots were likely to see comparatively low temperatures, with Malaga in southern Spain and the Greek Island of Corfu only likely to reach around 17C (63F).

Roads were expected to be busy over the weekend, although there was better news for drivers when the Highways Agency announced that from this morning the fire-hit section of the M1 between junctions one and four just north of London was fully open again.

The agency has suspended roadworks at a number of sites on England’s motorways and major roads, but restrictions are still in place at some sites, including some on the M1 and M25.

Network Rail said there would be some engineering work on the railways over Easter but that 18 per cent more trains were running this holiday compared with last Easter.

Disrupted services due to engineering include those using the West Coast line in north west England, services in and out of London’s Liverpool Street station and trains on the Great Western line.

Travellers in Scotland were hit yesterday by a trackside fire which closed the railway line between Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as the line between Falkirk Grahamston and Cumbernauld.

The late Easter and the Royal wedding have resulted in employees having to take only three days off next week to get an 11-day break, starting today and returning to work on Tuesday May 3.

Travel organisation ABTA said the most popular destination for those travelling abroad this Easter was Spain