The new normal

Dover is gridlocked.

Well, not the whole town, but the two main routes through to the prt have been jammed since Monday, and got a little worse each day.

We see this from time to time, but what is different this week is that the queues don't melt away overnight, they are still bad at then when we go to bed, and when we wake at half five.

It is a pain for us, meaning we have to take different routes to get anywhere, or use a different supermarket as Tesco is too difficult to get to.

The jam builds from dawn, and by four, the A20 at the end of the motorway is closed, as is the A2 at Whitfield. All other main roads in town fill up accordingly.

The reason is that freight is heavy in the build up to Christmas and so companies are importing what they can before the end of the year, before all the new checks and paperwork starts.

It is worth noting that the queues are still there despite both SM and CU being in operation, so this is sheer volume of traffic. Whereas we have 7 miles of queues now, in two weeks it is expected to be 70 miles.

And Kent is not alone, similar jams have bult up leading to Hollyhead in north Wales as the same rules apply in sending goods to and from NI.

And from Janauary 1st, there will be no escape from the rules and the jams. For now it is inconvenient, but in two weeks our lives will change forever, or until common sense prevails, if it ever does.