The traffic control system Dover TAP is in place this afternoon.

A tweet from county highway officials said "The Dover Traffic Access Protocol (TAP) scheme on the A20 at Aycliffe has been implemented due to heavy freight volumes.

"This is to prevent portbound traffic from disrupting the local road network and the A20 through Dover town."

The message from Kent County Council's highways department was put out at exactly 3.07pm today.

Dover TAP is regularly brought in when there is a need to control the flow of lorries coming into the port to stop the town's roads being clogged.

This is at times such as ferry sailings held up by bad weather or the effect of workers in and around Calais on strike.

But it also means car drivers are restricted to travelling port-bound at 40mph.

A tweet from ferry operators DFDS said at 3.31pm today: "Due to high winds on the Channel all vessels are delayed."