British tourists advised of potential travel disruptions during summer due to IT outage aftermath

Holidaymakers have been cautioned about possible travel disruptions this weekend as UK transport networks are still feeling the effects of Friday’s global IT outage.

Experts anticipate that flight delays and cancellations will continue throughout the weekend after the outage, with some warning that full system recovery could take weeks.

As summer holidays begin and the academic year ends for many schools, thousands of families are starting to embark on vacations.

Abta, the travel association, advised holidaymakers to check with their providers to see if there are any additional steps they need to take.

A spokesperson stated: “We’re entering one of the busiest travel periods, with some schools finishing for the summer yesterday and many more next week.

Many people will be traveling abroad to escape the recent unseasonable weather in the UK.

“Popular destinations like Spain, Turkey, and Greece will be seeing a lot of travelers heading abroad.

“If you’re leaving for a holiday this weekend – no matter how you’re traveling – it’s wise to check with your travel provider for any additional steps you may need to take, as some businesses are still feeling the effects of Friday’s IT outage.”

The Port of Dover reported early Saturday that it was assisting “hundreds of displaced” airport passengers and advised customers to ensure they have a booking before arrival.

CEO Doug Bannister told the PA news agency: “We have a turn-up-and-go system here. However, on busy days, we do require you to have a booking, even if people are doing this on the drive down.

“The more visibility we have, the better.

“But we are here to serve people who want to travel. So I would say to displaced airport passengers, ‘come on down, we have the capacity’.”

Mr. Bannister mentioned that the Port was anticipating over 10,000 cars on Saturday, up from 8,000 the day before.

He added: “We start to get busy around 5 or 5:30 in the morning. We’ve introduced new infrastructure today that is working really well.

“Currently, there is no congestion in the town of Dover. Approach roads are busy but moving. Everything is running smoothly.”

Mr. Bannister also confirmed that the port was unaffected by the IT outage, stating that travelers were able to reach their destinations on time and without disruption on Friday.

A faulty update released by CrowdStrike, one of the world’s largest cybersecurity providers, caused businesses around the globe to go offline on Friday, resulting in flight and train cancellations, as well as disruption to some healthcare systems.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz expressed deep regret for the situation and stated that CrowdStrike is actively collaborating with those affected.

Industry expert Adam Leon Smith of BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, cautioned that it might take “weeks” for all computers and systems to be fully restored, while Mr. Kurtz mentioned that it would take “some time.”