Millions of Brits are braced for disruption to Christmas Eve getaway journeys today due to severe road traffic and yet another day of rail strikes decimating train services.
The AA predicted that nearly 17 million cars will be on UK roads on Saturday, leading to severe congestion on major routes – made worse by the industrial action on the railways that will see most services stopped by 3pm.
Border Force strikes will also continue at six UK airports today, although there was minimal disruption on the first day of the walkout on Friday as armed forces personnel were praised for their speed after they were deployed to check passports.
However travellers at Heathrow Airport this morning were left struggling to find out when or from where their flights would be boarding after the digital noticeboards went down.
Millions of Brits are braced for disruption to Christmas Eve getaway journeys today due to severe road traffic and yet another day of rail strikes decimating train services (Pictured: Travellers at London Euston Station today)
The AA predicted that nearly 17 million cars will be on UK roads on Saturday, leading to severe congestion on major routes – made worse by the industrial action on the railways that will see most services stopped by 3pm. (Pictured: M25 traffic overnight)
Staff at the west London airport were seen using whiteboards and markers to update passengers.
It came as the Terminal 5 tube station was forced to close due to a ‘fire alert’, according to TfL. MailOnline has contacted Heathrow and TfL for comment.
The walkout by thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail means trains will stop running early, and some routes will have no services all day.
The RAC and transport analytics company Inrix said the worst Christmas Eve traffic on major roads will be between midday and 1pm.
They highlighted a southbound stretch of the M6 from junction 27 (Chorley, Lancashire) to junction 13 (Stafford, Staffordshire) as the most likely location for long queues.
Many drivers battled a band of heavy rain on Friday which moved north from southern England and Wales to southern Scotland and Northern Ireland.
National Highways said a 10-mile queue built up due to the M25 being closed from junction 11 (Woking, Surrey) to junction 12 (the M3) while standing water was cleared.
Heavy traffic stretched for three miles on the M20 as the westbound section of junction 4 (Leybourne, Kent) was closed after a serious crash on Thursday.
The AA reported ‘severe congestion’ on several motorway stretches on Friday, including the north and west sections of the M25, the M1 around Luton, Bedfordshire, the M4 and M5 near Bristol, the M5 north of Birmingham, the M60 west of Manchester and the M8 near Glasgow.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘We’re expecting Christmas Day to be quieter with shorter local journeys.
‘On Boxing Day traffic will pick up again with approximately 15 million trips as people head out to see friends and family.’
Meanwhile Network Rail said trains will stop running at around 3pm on Christmas Eve.
The early closure means the last departures on some long-distance routes will be before 1pm.
Examples of last train times include 10.45am for Leeds to London, 11am for London to Edinburgh and 12.48pm for London to Manchester.
East Midlands Railway will only run an ‘extremely limited service’ between London St Pancras and Corby, with no trains on routes such as London St Pancras-Sheffield and London St Pancras-Nottingham.
Travellers at Heathrow Airport this morning were left struggling to find out when or from where their flights would be boarding after the digital noticeboards went down
Terminal 5 tube station was closed this morning due to a fire alert
No South Western Railway trains will run on several routes to and from London Waterloo, including Reading, Twickenham and Dorking.
Chiltern Railways will not operate any trains to or from Oxford, or north of Banbury.
No trains operate on Britain’s railways on Christmas Day.
The normal limited Boxing Day schedule has been scrapped due to the strike, while services will start later than usual on December 27.
Christmas is a key period for maintenance work on the railways.
Network Rail planned a £120 million programme of more than 300 projects over the festive period this year.
It said ‘around 85%’ of this work will still go ahead despite the RMT action.
Border Force strikes continue at six UK airports but there was minimal disruption on the first day of the walkout on Friday as armed forces personnel were deployed to check passports.
Fears of disorder at UK airports and long queues at passport control largely failed to materialise on Friday to the relief of travellers, as military personnel stepped in to replace the Border Force workers who will strike every day for the rest of the year, except December 27.
Millions of travellers taking to the roads on Saturday will be hoping for a similarly stress-free journey, but it comes amid concerns that strikes by Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) workers could led to the knock-on effect of severe congestion on major roads.
A walkout by thousands of RMT members at Network Rail means trains will stop running early, and some routes will have no services all day.
Surface flooding on the A41 at the Brent Cross flyover on Friday afternoon after heavy rain battered the country ahead of the Christmas getaway
By Friday afternoon there were long queues to head north out of London on the A13
The AA has issued an amber traffic alert to drivers (Pictured: A102M Blackwall Tunnel Approach on Friday)
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It comes as unions signalled that there was no end in sight to strike action, with the Government refusing to budge as it grapples with disputes on pay and working conditions across an array of sectors.
Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union general secretary Mark Serwotka predicted there would be a ‘huge escalation’ in industrial action in January across the civil service unless ministers enter into negotiations.
Despite the lack of chaos in airports, he insisted that the strike action ‘had worked’ as he claimed that travellers were simply being ‘waved through’ and passports were not being properly checked.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was ‘sad and disappointed’ about the disruption, but argued that the Government had acted ‘fairly and reasonably’ on public pay.
Meanwhile, postal deliveries and driving lessons are set to continue to be disrupted by strikes in the days before Christmas.
Royal Mail, National Highways and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) employees all took action on Friday, with strikes continuing into Saturday as RMT staff, Abellio London bus workers and Environment Agency workers launch separate waves of action.
This follows two days of strikes by NHS staff, with thousands of nurses walking out on Tuesday and ambulance workers joining picket lines on Wednesday.
Travellers considering taking the train on Christmas Eve have been told to only use rail services ‘if absolutely necessary’.
Network Rail said trains will stop running at around 3pm on Christmas Eve.
The early closure means the last departures on some long-distance routes will be before 1pm.
Examples of last train times include 10.45am for Leeds to London, 11am for London to Edinburgh and 12.48pm for London to Manchester.
The AA is predicting that nearly 17 million cars will be on UK roads on Saturday, with the worst congestion expected around the middle of the day.
The AA warned Friday was the busiest day on the roads this week, with an estimated 16.9 journeys across the UK.
It is estimated journeys will take 14 per cent longer this Christmas compared to the same period last year.
The wet conditions are set to continue into the weekend and cause challenging driving conditions, with a risk of surface water build-up.
Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said: ‘It will be heavy rain and difficult driving conditions with the potential for some surface water build-up as it drains away because there’s a fair amount of rain moving north-eastwards through the day today.’
Head of roads policy at AA Jack Cousens said: ‘We are advising those heading out in their cars to be prepared for some congestion, especially on popular routes heading out of London.
‘The rail strikes have convinced more people to travel by car this year, and while hundreds of miles of roadworks have been removed to ease the pain, it might not be enough to keep the queues away.’
He told Sky News the AA has issued an amber traffic warning for Friday and Saturday, and is expecting ‘congestion across the road network.
He added: ‘The train strike is having an impact where people are moving away from the railway and deciding to jump in their cars because they feel it’s a more consistent way of getting to their destination.
‘People are deciding they really don’t want to take the gamble with using the railways.’
He continued: ‘From a driver’s perspective, just be prepared that you are going to meet congestion.
‘We’ve already seen two pretty big incidents on the M1 between junctions five and six and junctions seven and nine.’
