Motorists are being urged to be patient

The Heathrow Express was suspended for most of the morning after a lorry hit a bridge, and spilled its contents on to the tracks.

And with 17m vehicles expected on the roads over the weekend, the RAC reported major tailbacks in some areas.

Many other Britons headed overseas with a record 2.2m people set to leave the country, according to travel agents.

Syrup spill

The disruption of the Heathrow Express service forced many people heading to the airport to find alternative routes.

The accident happened at 0625 GMT, with roads also closed because of hydraulic fluid leaking from the lorry.

On Monday many people who have travelled further afield will be returning from their breaks, with motorways, major roads and those surrounding airports and ferry ports being the busiest RAC

Train services to and from London Paddington were back to normal by the early evening.

There was a quieter start for the road network but queues grew as the day wore on, according to the RAC.

There were 10 mile tailbacks on the M4 after a syrup tanker overturned on the westbound carriageway at junction 11 in Reading.

Ferry ports

The RAC warned that roads could be even busier on Monday.

A spokesman said: "On Monday many people who have travelled further afield will be returning from their breaks, with motorways, major roads and those surrounding airports and ferry ports being the busiest."

The AA expects to deal with 50,000 breakdowns over the weekend.

North Africa and southern Spain are popular with Easter holidaymakers

The Highways Agency has suspended a number of roadworks on major routes in England, but some remain in place, including those on the western section of the M25 near Heathrow airport - the busiest stretch of the country's busiest motorway.

Roadworks at junction 6 on the M6 in Birmingham will also stay over the weekend.

On the railways, there will be widespread engineering works, with many trains being replaced by buses over the holiday period.

Network Rail said the work was being done at Easter as it would only be carrying half the normal number of passengers.

Sporting occasions

On Friday, the warmest place in the UK was Leuchars in Fife which reached 17C (63F). Cooler, showery weather was expected across the country on Sunday and Monday.

Sporting events over the weekend include the Boat Race on Sunday and England's World Cup qualifying match with Northern Ireland in Manchester on Saturday.

For those people heading abroad, the most popular foreign destinations were New York, Dublin, Paris, Tenerife and southern Spain.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) said many ski resorts were sold out and that north Africa was proving a popular Easter destination for Britons.