EASTER holidaymakers in North Yorkshire were set to play dodge-the-shower today as forecasters predicted a mixed weekend of weather.

Showers and sunshine were expected for today, with longer periods of rain tomorrow, and Sunday and Monday offering better chances of sunshine.

York tourist chiefs said the city's hotels and guest houses were virtually fully booked as thousands of holidaymakers descended on the area.

The tourism bureau said it had tripled the number of staff to deal with telephone inquiries, principally about accommodation.

Police were braced for heavy traffic today on the traditional holiday routes of the A64 York to Scarborough road and in the Yorkshire Dales.

Despite heavy traffic elsewhere in the country yesterday, the roads in one of Britain's favourite holiday county were no busier than on a normal Thursday, according to police.

All major roadworks in the county have been closed for the weekend to keep the traffic moving smoothly.

Roads, ports and airports were today coping well with the wave of holidaymakers making Easter getaways.

The M25 and all motorways out of London were said to be running smoothly after massive congestion last night.

But AA Roadwatch warned of large delays building up again later in the day, with up to 50 per cent more cars on the roads than last year.

Airports were as busy as ever with Heathrow expecting at least 176,000 travellers.

A spokesman said that passengers should ensure they arrive on time for their flights but added that they were not expecting any hold-ups in the terminals.

Dover harbour reported weekend traffic as "incredibly busy" with limited space on some services, but said it was running "smoothly".

Forecasters predicted intermittent and localised showers today with heavier rain tomorrow.