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Warning follows ozone and pollution readings, while holidaymakers leave for cooler Europe during spring break The first shadow has been cast over the UK’s sunlit spring by a smog warning for central London. The government alert was triggered by monitors on the traffic-choked Marylebone Road, whose readings breached European limits on ozone and pollutant particles linked to respiratory and other health problems. The move came as the first of an estimated 2 million holidaymakers left the UK for supposed hotspots, many of which are currently cooler than southern England’s daily highs of 24C (71F). Pullovers were evident on flights to Barcelona and Corfu, where the temperature was 16C (61F) and 17C (63F), while relatives seeing travellers off were in T-shirts. Another 5 million people are expected to take breaks in the UK with at least one overnight stay during the bonus extended break offered by the succession of Easter, the royal wedding and May Day weekend. Roads and railways are already feeling the strain, despite reassuring bulletins from the Met Office that warm, dry and calm conditions will continue into next week, lending no urgency to getaway plans. Accidents and the jam of early starters caused major delays on the M25 near Dartford, the A1M in county Durham, the A38 near Derby and the A2 in Kent. The Highways Agency announced the suspension of roadworks at many major sites to help holiday traffic flow, although essential repairs will continue on parts of the M1 and M25. The fire-damaged stretch of the M1 between junctions one and four in London has fully reopened. Network Rail is optimistic about smoother journeys than last Easter, with less engineering work over the holiday and an estimated 18% more trains running. There will be disruption, however, on the West Coast line in north-west England, the Great Western line and at Liverpool Street station in London, where essential repairs and modernisation need the quieter holiday period to get work done. The closure of 1,100 miles of track at various stages during the break was criticised by Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Maria Eagle, who called for compensation discounts. She said: “Christmas was ruined for many families thanks to the government’s failure to cope with the winter weather. Now families face a real struggle to get together for Easter because so much of the rail network will be out of action.” Others on the move include bats, which have taken to using canals as a seasonal corridor in the warmth according to a report from British Waterways, and thousands of Browntail moth caterpillars, which have spun sticky canopies of cocoons on Canvey Island in Essex, to pupate earlier than usual. In London, the mayor, Boris Johnson, did his best to persuade capital-dwellers to stay put by opening a temporary ‘beach’ on the Thames south bank, near the London Eye. Funfairs, candy floss and 70 metres (230ft) of sand are on offer, polluted air or not, although paddling in the river is not part of the deal.There is expected to be a huge influx of overseas visitors in the run-up to the Royal wedding, with bookings 244% up on last year, compared with a 104% rise in travellers going overseas, thought to be swollen by “wedding refugees”. British Airways planes will ferry more than 250,000 visitors to the UK before the wedding, with the six busiest routes all from the United States. New York is the favourite long-haul destination for British holidaymakers, with Amsterdam, Dublin, Paris and Rome the top European destinations. National Express is predicting a triple bank holiday bonanza for its coaches, with services between London and 67 other centres laid on for the royal wedding. Anyone bored at the UK seaside, meanwhile, might like to help remedy statistics released by the Marine Conservation Society which show that litter on beaches increased by 3% last year. Weather Pollution London Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk