Travellers trying to get away for the Bank Holiday weekend were hit by severe delays at Manchester Airport which forced people to sit in long queues.

The airport was reportedly hit by baggage handling issues that meant passengers stood in queues that stretched into the Terminal 1 car park.

The incident occurred on the same day millions of Britons hit the nation’s roads, railway networks, and airports ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend.

Alongside potential congestion at airports, there will also be disruption on the railways as Network Rail announced several improvement projects taking place at the start of this month.

Network Rail said improvements were being made to both the tracks and their drainage systems now to improve the reliability of services in the future.

The works mean that from today until Monday, trains between Birmingham New Street and Coventry will be diverted. Furthermore, London’s Euston Station will be closed to mainline train services this Sunday.

Explaining the impact of the works, they added that services on the West Coast main line would also be affected and start and end at Milton Keynes.

In a statement about the disruption and its impact, operations director for Network Rail’s Central Route Martin Colmey explained that the bank holiday weekend was chosen because it was the “least disruptive time” for them to “carry out this essential work”.

Mr Colmey added: “We have seen extremely wet weather this winter and the replacement of the drainage between Birmingham and Coventry will help to keep train services reliable for both passengers and freight.”

On the roads, traffic is forecast to be heavy as the RAC said they expected a “crescendo of cars”. Data from RAC and INREX predicted that around 16million people will be using the road network.

One of the busiest times will be Saturday afternoon when 3.3million people are expected to be making use of the roads. Data suggests the worst period will be between 9am and 2pm.

Spokesperson for the RAC Alice Simpson said: “We’re anticipating a ‘crescendo of cars’ on the road over the weekend with as many as 3m motorists making leisure trips on Saturday alone.

“In addition to the majority of motorists planning day trips and short breaks, our data shows local routes to city and out-of-town shopping centres could see heavy traffic, so it’s best to head out early morning or evening if possible.”