Drivers on the M1 faced severe disruption this morning after a serious collision forced the closure of all four southbound lanes.
The motorway has since fully reopened following a crash involving a car and a motorbike between junctions 10 and 11 near Luton Airport.
National Highways said the road was shut at around 7.45am, with lanes reopening throughout the morning.
One lane reopened at 9.11am, followed by a second at 9.26am, before all lanes were back open by 9.39am.
But significant delays are expected as traffic continues to clear.
Passengers travelling to Luton Airport are being urged to check the National Highways East feed for the latest updates to avoid disruption to their journeys.
Earlier diversion routes via the A505 and A5 through Dunstable have now been lifted, although congestion may continue as displaced traffic returns to the motorway.
It comes as millions of motorists take to the roads for the start of the Easter bank holiday weekend.
Travel trade organisation Abta estimates that around two million UK residents will travel abroad between Good Friday and Easter Monday, while the RAC has warned this could be the busiest Easter period on the roads since 2022.
Meanwhile, rising oil prices — driven in part by tensions around tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz — have pushed up wholesale fuel costs.
However, this does not appear to have deterred holidaymakers from travelling over the long weekend.
