Easter continues to be an extremely popular period for travel. Whether people are remaining in the UK or jetting off abroad for some sunshine, millions of Britons are anticipated to be travelling in the coming days.

And despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East having caused petrol, diesel and flight prices to soar, many of us are still preparing to take to the roads or airports.

However, travel expert Simon Calder has cautioned that significant disruption is likely. He warned that heavy traffic on the roads is expected, particularly on Thursday and Friday (April 2-3). He suggested it would be sensible to either 'leave early or leave late' to dodge the rush.

Speaking to the Independent, he explained: "Easter travel is going to be disrupted for many people, I'm sorry to say. Looking at the roads, well, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are going to be the busiest, especially during the day from about 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening," he said. "Best way to avoid the queues and the crowds is to leave early or leave late. Saturday is looking quite busy, especially heading south on the M25 from the M1 through to Heathrow, and indeed on the M5 going south from the M4 at Bristol.

"There's going to be many issues on Easter Monday. That M5 traffic will all be going north, so expect delays from Taunton up through to Bristol. The M25 again, that's likely to be quite lively." He also warned that the rail network would be under pressure, with numerous repairs and track maintenance underway. He stated: "Starting here at London Euston, the entire 50 miles of line between here and Milton Keynes Central is going to be closed because of Network Rail engineering work.

"That's going to mean that intercity services to the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales, and Southern Scotland are going to be beginning at Milton Keynes Central with, would you believe, a bus replacement service operating from Bedford, which you can reach from St Pancras Station just down the road and also on Thameslink from a number of London stations.

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"Elsewhere, there are going to be issues in Yorkshire, where you will find that the line from Leeds via Garsforth to York is going to be closed and also the line through Huddersfield. There will be diversions, delays, and those rail replacement buses. North from Cambridge to King's Lynn is also going to be closed, as is the line from Winchester to Southampton.

"If you're heading to Dover and you've got a ferry to catch, well, it's really quite straightforward according to the boss of the Port of Dover who I've been speaking to. Doug Bannister says, "Don't arrive more than two hours early. We will do our absolute best to get you through smoothly. If you do happen to miss your ferry, you will be rebooked without fuss and without charge on the next available sailing.""