Travel news – live: Christmas traffic and train delays set to impact festive season

The UK Civil Aviation Authority says that regulator data trends suggest airports will be even busier this month than the almost 11 million passengers who jetted off in December 2023, with the demand for flights expected to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

The Independent predicts these will be the busiest days:

• Heathrow: Friday 20 December (outbound); Friday, Saturday and Sunday 3/4/5 January (inbound).
• Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted: Saturday and Sunday 21/22 December (outbound); Saturday and Sunday 4/5 January (inbound). The intermediate weekend, 28/29 December, will be very busy.
• Luton: Friday 20 December (outbound); Fridays 27 December and 3 January (inbound).

Friday, 20 December, especially the evening rush hour, is expected to be one of the busiest times for Christmas travel on the UK’s roads and motorways.

The AA predicts that Friday will see a record 23.7 million car journeys on motorways and trunk roads.

The Met Office said that drivers should prepare for spray on the roads at times with some blustery winds in places too.

Christmas Eve will mostly be everyone’s final chance to reach their Christmas destination for the holidays, as no passenger trains will run in the UK on Christmas Day and Boxing Day will be similar, except for some rare exceptions.

On 24 December, trains will start to roll into their depots ahead of Christmas from late afternoon onwards.

The last direct trains on key intercity routes are:

• London King’s Cross-Edinburgh: 5.30pm/Edinburgh-London King’s Cross: 4.13pm
• London Euston-Manchester Piccadilly: 5.55pm/Manchester Piccadilly-London Euston: 6.13pm
• London Paddington-Cardiff Central: 7.48pm/Cardiff Central-London Paddington: 8.18pm
• London Victoria-Gatwick Airport: 8.45pm/Gatwick Airport-London Victoria: 7.32pm
• Bristol Temple Meads-Leeds: 4.35pm/Leeds-Bristol Temple Meads: 4.11pm
• Glasgow Queen Street-Aberdeen: 6.41pm/Aberdeen-Glasgow Queen Street: 6.36pm

All Caledonian Sleeper services are cancelled until 27 December.

The RAC predicts there will be an extended period of “pre-Christmas panic” on the roads, with 5.7m extra trips being taken this Wednesday and Thursday alone.

The peak times are 1pm-6pm on 18 December and 8am-6pm the following day.

However, Friday 20 December is set to be the busiest day of the winter on motorways and trunk roads according to rival motoring organisation the AA, which predicts a record 23.7 million car journeys.

The organisation warns Saturday 21 and Monday 23 December will also be extremely busy, with 22.7 million on each day. The RAC, meanwhile, predicts 1-6pm on Saturday and 10am-4pm on Monday will be the busiest times.

The Independent has analysed AA figures to calculate that one in seven motorists plans to drive more than 100 miles on “frantic Friday”, 20 December.

Find out more about Christmas road congestion here:

Passengers have been warned to plan their journeys in advance as stations and services are likely to be busy in the run-up to Christmas and the New Year, with engineering work also affecting trains.

National Rail says there could be some changes to the advertised timetables, so passengers are strongly advised to check journey planners before travel and book tickets in advance wherever possible.

Due to engineering works and projects, some services will be disrupted:

• London Liverpool Street will be closed from Wednesday 25 December with services resuming on Thursday 2 January, causing various services to be redirected or terminated elsewhere.
• London Paddington also will close for three days from 27 to 29 December.
• There will be no East Midlands trains running between St Pancras and Bedford and no Thameslink services between St Pancras and Harpenden between 21 and 29 December.
• No trains will pass through Crewe on 27 December. There will be no direct service to Liverpool and there will be a reduced service to Manchester from 28 December until 3 January.
• There will be no services between both Royston/Audley End and Cambridge/Cambridge North from Wednesday 25 December to Sunday 5 January
• South Western Railway services will be altered or diverted due to engineering between Farnborough and Woking from 23 December until 5 January.

More information can be found on the Network Rail website.

As usual, train services throughout the UK will finish earlier than normal on 24 December, and there will be no National Rail services on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, most train operators will not be running any trains, but a small number of operators will be running limited services.

On Saturday 21 December from 7am to midnight, the Met Office has yellow weather warnings for strong winds in place for much of the northern UK.

The warnings cover all of Scotland (apart from Shetland), northern England west of the Pennines (including Manchester airport), the North Wales coast and the northern half of Northern Ireland.

The Met Office says for western Scotland: “Very strong westerly winds are expected to develop through the course of Saturday in association with a deep area of low pressure, with gusts of 65-75 mph expected.

There is a small chance that gusts in excess of 80 mph could occur across this region.

“Dangerous coastal conditions can be expected too, with large waves an additional hazard, especially in respect to causeways.”

On Sunday, the warning changes to cover the whole of the west of the UK – west of a line through Leeds, Birmingham and Southampton.

From midnight to 9pm on Sunday, prospective travellers are warned: “A prolonged period of strong winds will likely lead to some disruption over the weekend, especially to travel.

“Some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are likely.

“It’s likely that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and/or large waves.

“Probably some bus and train services affected, with some journeys taking longer.”

Many flights have been grounded in Bosnia‘s capital, Sarajevo, as toxic air engulfed the city.

The public were told to stay indoors as protection against a thick blanket of smog.

Sarajevo and other major cities in the Balkans are traditionally very polluted during winter months as they rely on coal and wood for heating.

Some flights to Sarajevo diverted, eg to Banja Luka, and many others were cancelled, but Wizz Air got in from Luton this morning.

With daily eight superferry departures from Holyhead to Dublin because of damage at the Welsh port, pressure on other forms of transport is leading to soaring fares.

Friday’s early evening departure on Ryanair from London Gatwick to Dublin, leaving at 5.45pm is currently priced at £501 one-way without baggage.

On Friday’s 6.30pm British Airways departure from Heathrow to the Irish capital, one seat remains at £660. This is for business class, and includes 64kg of checked baggage.

From Bristol to Dublin on Aer Lingus, tickets for Thursday, Friday and Saturday are all priced at around £200 for a 206-mile hop.

The main ferry link between Great Britain and Ireland, from Holyhead to Dublin, will remain suspended throughout the festive season and into the new year.

The closure began on 8 December after the port of Holyhead suffered damage during Storm Darragh.

The weeks-long shutdown of the link between Holyhead and Dublin will wreck the plans of tens of thousands of Christmas travellers hoping to cross the Irish Sea by ferry, as well as disrupting the supply chain of goods across the Irish Sea.

A spokesperson for Holyhead Port said: “We understand the closure of the ferry terminals has had a significant impact on trade, passengers and port customers. We are sorry for the disruption this has caused. The safety of our colleagues and customers is our first priority and we will only permit ferry services to recommence once we are sure it is safe to do so.”

Normally Stena Line and Irish Ferries have four daily ferries each way between the Anglesey and the Irish capital. Hundreds of motorists and foot passengers use the link each day.

Air fares from the UK to Dublin have soared, with Ryanair’s hour-long hop from London Gatwick to the Irish capital currently selling at £501 for the 5.45pm departure on Friday 20 December.

The great Christmas getaway descended into chaos for thousands of passengers hoping to fly from London Stansted airport on Thursday.

In the early hours, thieves stole signalling and power cables from the Stansted Express rail line in Hertfordshire. The tracks were closed to trains.

While Network Rail engineers worked to repair the damage, the first 17 departures of the airport express train were cancelled.

Stansted airport is expecting around 40,000 departing passengers on Thursday, of whom about a quarter would plan to use the train.

Network Rail says: “Cable theft costs us millions of pounds each year. The total cost to the economy – taking into account the impact of freight delays to power stations and supermarkets, and on passengers who miss appointments or have their day ruined – is even higher.”

A spokesperson for Ryanair, Stansted’s biggest airline, said: “It is each passenger’s responsibility to ensure they present at the boarding gate on time for their flight.” If not: “They can pay a Missed Departure Fee [£100] to move onto the next available flight.”

Travel insurance may cover extra costs.

Passengers travelling between London and Gatwick airport also encountered problems on Thursday morning due to what National Rail called “a fault with the signalling system”.

All southbound trains to the Sussex airport until around 9.30am were delayed.