Easter Monday is likely to be the busiest day of the year so far for travel from abroad to the UK. With many schools going back tomorrow, upwards of half a million people are on their way home from holidays in Europe and beyond.

Ferry passengers sailing from northern France to Dover could encounter long waits for French and British border control. Within the UK, long queues are expected on some motorways, and key rail lines are also disrupted – both because of planned engineering work and emergency repairs.

These are the key areas of concern.

Rail

Passengers across Britain face problems returning from Easter getaways due to disruption on Monday.

Long-planned Network Rail engineering projects are closing some key lines and stations. The West Coast main line remains shut between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central until Tuesday 22 April. Passengers to and from the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland must use a rail replacement bus between Milton Keynes Central and Bedford, from where frequent trains run to London.

London Victoria remains closed, as planned, to Southeastern services, while trains on the line to Gatwick airport and Brighton have been reduced.

At Cardiff Central, emergency engineering works will mean trains are delayed, cancelled or curtailed all day on Easter Monday. National Rail says: “Urgent repairs are needed to a bridge in the Cardiff Central area, whilst repairs are being carried out, some lines are closed. As a result of this, a reduced service is running to or from Cardiff Central, trains may be revised. Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.

CrossCountry has cancelled only two trains so far on Easter Monday – an early service from Birmingham to Manchester and an evening departure from Cardiff to Nottingham – due to a shortage of train drivers. But trains are likely to be busier than usual due to dozens of cancellations by the train operator on Easter Sunday, which were also attributed to drivers not being available.

Due to a strike by drivers, Hull Trains has cancelled one round-trip between Hull and London King’s Cross during the middle of the day.

Road

The AA has issued an “Amber Traffic Warning” for Easter Monday, with just over 18 million road journeys expected. The RAC predicts the busiest time will be between 11am and 6pm.

Queues are likely around shopping and retail parks, and the usual hotspots around the M6 at Birmingham and further north, particularly around Preston and the junctions serving the Lake District; the M25 between the M23 and M40 junctions; the M5 approaching the Bristol area, and the A303 through Wiltshire.

In addition there is a big football programme in the Championship and Leagues One and Two, meaning hundreds of thousands of fans will be on the move.

Ferry

The main focus for delays is Calais. Motorists must check out of France and then check in to the UK while still on the French side of the Channel, before boarding their ferries. Queues of 90 minutes built up for the border control at Calais last weekend, and those could be exceeded today.

At 6am DFDS Ferries said: “Freight traffic is busy with around 40 minutes wait at Controls. Tourist traffic is free flowing into the port.”

Irish Ferries, which sails between Dover and Calais, says: “Please allow additional time to complete border controls and check-in. If you experience delays, we will accommodate you on the next available sailing.”

Further congestion may be triggered by European visitors to the UK being unaware that they now need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) permit to visit. They will be able to apply for one on the spot, but this may increase delays at UK Border Control at Calais. In addition, the current UK prohibition on meat and dairy personal imports could extend the time taken for checks.

Air

Overnight some Ryanair passengers experienced delays of one to two hours on flights returning to its main base, London Stansted, particularly from southern Europe.

Airlines have been warning of the highest proportion of delayed flights across Europe in a quarter-century, as air traffic control centres in France, Germany and elsewhere struggle with staff shortages. On Easter Sunday it was a sluggish start to the day – with some flights delayed by up to an hour waiting for slots on routes from the UK to southern Europe, but airlines generally put enough slack in their schedules to recover from air-traffic control hold-ups.

Tui passengers who were due to arrive back at Birmingham from Melbourne-Orlando on Saturday morning finally arrived in the early hours of Tuesday, after the Boeing 787 left a taxiway at the Florida airport. The Independent has asked Tui for further details.

For people coming back to the UK, there could be long queues at passport control due to the sheer weight of numbers – for many airports it will be the busiest day of the year so far for arrivals.