Travel news live: Traffic chaos to hit Christmas getaway as weather warnings issued

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Rebekah Hicks said: “We’ll start to see high pressure to the south of the UK bringing in more settled and much milder conditions from Christmas Eve.

“Christmas Day itself will be cloudy for most, although some eastern areas of the UK, most likely eastern Scotland, may see some clear or sunny spells.

“We could see some drizzle across hills in the west, and some more persistent rain is possible for north-west Scotland, but overall it will be a fairly cloudy, nondescript day.

“Conditions on Christmas Day and Boxing Day look to be exceptionally mild for the time of year, especially in the north.

“East and north-east Scotland, for example, could see overnight temperatures that are 10C above average on Christmas morning.”

Weather warnings for wind have come into force across much of the UK as millions more people get away for Christmas.

Roads and public transport could be disrupted by strong gusts as the Met Office forecast a wet and windy weekend for many.

The AA predicted 23.7 million drivers would hit the road on Friday, making it the busiest day on the roads since the group’s records began in 2010.

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The Met Office has warned of severe coastal gales, with other regions of the UK enduing heavy showers and thunder on Saturday.

A post on X read: “Windy on Saturday morning with severe coastal gales in the northwest and a risk of damaging gusts in northwest Scotland later.

“Rain moving southeast with colder and brighter weather following giving a mixture of sunny spells and heavy showers, perhaps with hail and thunder.”

The RAC estimated seven million leisure trips will be made on major roads during the weekend, which excludes everyday traffic.

It predicted that congestion hotspots will be on both directions of the M1 to Gatwick via the M25 and the M23; Liverpool to Chester on the M53; Oxford to the south coast via the A34 and the M3; the M25 to the south coast along the M3; and at the Taunton to Almondsbury Interchange in Bristol heading down the M5.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “With the weekend bringing a mix of strong winds along with heavy, and in some places wintry, showers, it’s going to make many of the estimated seven million getaway trips by car a pretty exhausting experience.”

British Airways has cancelled at least 26 flights to and from London Heathrow airport. According to the airline’s website, domestic departures to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester are grounded, along with European links to and from Barcelona, Munich, Rome and elsewhere.

Two BA round-trips from London Heathrow to Dublin have been cancelled, adding to pressure on fares to the Irish capital. With seats scarce – and the main Holyhead-Dublin ferry link out of action for at least three weeks – fares are soaring.

It appears the last seats on the only available British Airways flight from Heathrow to Dublin, at 8.30am, sold at £462, and no more seats are available on the route all day.

Three Ryanair flights from Gatwick to Dublin are selling at £500 or more, though others are available at £260.

The Dutch airline KLM has cancelled one round-trip from Amsterdam to Heathrow, and Swiss has done the same from Zurich.

For the first Sunday this month, Great Western Railway (GWR) plans to run all its planned trains linking London Paddington with South Wales and the West of England on 22 December. Many staff are not obliged to work on Sundays, and for the first three Sundays of December dozens of trains were cancelled as crew decided not to accept overtime shifts.

But The Independent understands that overtime rates increase close to Christmas, incentivising more staff to work on their rest days.

Great Western Railway said: “We’re expecting to operate our full advertised timetable on Sunday 22 December.”

But from Christmas Day to Sunday, 29 December, GWR services will not run into Paddington due to work on HS2 near the London terminus. Some trains will be re-routed to and from London Euston.

No trains will run on the Midland Main Line north from London St Pancras International to Luton (including the airport), Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield from today to 29 December inclusive due to the replacement of the Agar Grove railway bridge in Camden, north London.

St Pancras is the eighth-busiest station in the UK, with over 90,000 passengers a day.

Hourly East Midlands trains are running from Sheffield, Corby and Nottingham as far south as Bedford, for rail-replacement

buses to Milton Keynes Central – connecting to the West Coast main line, and therefore London Euston.

Thameslink trains, which normally connect Gatwick and Luton airports via central London, are severely affected, with shuttles running south and north of London St Pancras.

Eurostar links to Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, as well as Southeastern trains to Kent, are unaffected by the closure.

The RAC is calling 21 December “snarl-up Saturday,” and says the heaviest traffic will be between 1 and 6pm.

The AA also warns Saturday 21 and Monday 23 December will be extremely busy, with 22.7 million on each day. It has issued amber warnings for 21 and 23 December, “due to the volume of congestion predicted”.

Motorways near big shopping venues will be busy, especially the M25 around Bluewater in Kent, the M1 in the vicinity of Meadowhall near Sheffield in South Yorkshire and the M60 around the Trafford Centre west of Manchester.

By “messy Monday,” 23 December, additional congestion is expected on:

– M1 from Luton to Northampton

– M5 from Bristol to Taunton

– M42 between the M40 and M6 interchanges

The RAC predicts the busiest single getaway day for motorists will be Christmas Eve, with peak time 10am-4pm. That evening, multiple closures of rail lines for engineering work begin – meaning more road traffic that there would otherwise be, as travellers have little choice but to drive.

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:

Yellow wind warnings have been put in place on Saturday and Sunday, covering much of the UK as rain and disruptive winds are set to hit the country over the weekend.

The Met Office says that people can expect some delays to public transport, as well as disruption to travel by road.

On Saturday, a small chance of significant delays or even cancellations to services including ferry and air, whilst some roads, bridges and causeways may be closed.

On Sunday, some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are likely.

The weather experts have advised those travelling to give themselves the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus timetables and amending travel plans if necessary.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Rebekah Hicks, said: “This period of disruptive weather coincides with a busy period on UK roads as the festive getaway starts for many.

“The area of low pressure will bring rain and strong winds on Saturday, with a chance of significant disruption especially to transport networks across the north, including the potential for ferry cancellations.

“The strongest winds are expected across northern Scotland on Saturday afternoon and evening, with the potential for gusts of 80 to 85 mph in coastal districts.

“The strong winds will be more widespread on Sunday with gusts of 50-60 mph across much of northern, central and western UK, locally higher for coasts and across high ground.”