A busy section of the M11 forced to close after a van blaze will not reopen until mid-morning, police have warned.
Thousands of motorists were stuck in traffic jams for hours on Saturday with tailbacks stretching for eight miles at one stage.
Up to 500 air passengers missed their flights after the closure from London to Stansted Airport between junctions six and seven of the motorway.
Essex Police said the section was expected to reopen at 1100 GMT.
The Stansted Express train from London to the airport was cancelled this weekend for track maintenance and a replacement bus service could not run because of the closure.
Missed flights
The van that caused the disruption had been sent to assist a broken-down lorry and was carrying gas cylinders when it caught fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The blaze led to the motorway being closed in both directions.
A spokesman for Stansted Airport said on Saturday night that up to 500 people had missed their flights but he added that no flights had been delayed because of the problems.
"We have still got passengers turning up late and missing their flights and they are queuing up at the ticket desks to get rebooked on later flights," he said.
A Highways Agency spokesman said there had been reports of motorists stuck in queues for up to four hours.
"When you have got the best part of eight miles of traffic in three lanes trying to get off onto the local roads, you are going to get heavy congestion."
(BBC)
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