The travel chaos that will impact your plans this Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching, and for swathes of the public that means travelling across the UK and beyond. Whether you’re driving home for a festive celebration, taking the train to see family or flying overseas, you’re at the mercy of both the country’s infrastructure network – and the weather.

With a range of cancellations and disruptions planned across the country, it pays to look ahead. It is also worth considering that the Met Office has warned that stormy weather conditions could hit the UK on Saturday December 21 and Sunday December 22, with winds reaching up to 85mph in some parts of the country. Northern, central and western parts of the UK are set to be the worst affected.

Douglas Cairns from Transport Scotland said: “The strong winds across Scotland this weekend are expected to have an impact on the transport network.

“Road, rail, air and ferry services are all likely to be affected by the conditions, with longer journey times and cancellations possible, as well as potential restrictions on bridges.”

Here are all the details you need to know about travelling during the festive period.

Railways

According to data from booking platform Trainline, Saturday December 21 will be the busiest day for train travel this year. Despite the railways being a popular way to get home for Christmas, millions of people are expected to be impacted by disruption.

Passengers travelling to or from some London stations have been warned to make alternative arrangements, as key routes will be affected by major engineering works. Below are some of the most severely impacted, but it is always worth checking your operator’s website before travel. And it’s important to remember that no trains at all run in the UK on Christmas Day.

The Great Western line: December 24 to 30

Paddington will be closed for six days, meaning those travelling to the west of England should expect delays and diversions. The Great Western line – which also includes those travelling between Paddington to Heathrow, Reading and South Wales – will be closed from Christmas Eve to Monday December 30.

Passengers travelling to and from Penzance, Plymouth, Exeter, Swansea and Cardiff will instead have hourly trains to Euston, although these will not stop at Reading and seat reservations are required.

Those taking journeys from Bristol, Bath, Oxford and Worcester will, however, run to Reading, where passengers then need to change to trains bound for Ealing Broadway or Waterloo.

West Coast Main Line: December 28 to January 5 (in parts)

Crewe station will be closed between December 28 and 30 (although full capacity will not return until January 5), meaning for many travelling to and from the north of the country, rail connections will be severely impacted. Trains that usually pass through the station will instead be sent to Manchester.

On Christmas Eve and December 27, there will be no Avanti West Coast services to Liverpool Lime Street. Services to the city will also not run during the engineering work at Crewe, either.

Trains from Euston to Birmingham and Manchester will also be reduced in number.

On New Year’s Day, the line from Milton Keynes Central to Rugby will be closed, with Avanti West Coast operating rail replacement buses between the two stations instead. Services to Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham will start at Rugby.

Midland Main Line: December 21 to 29

There will be no trains on the Midland Main Line between December 21 to 29, although hourly East Midlands trains will run between Sheffield, Corby, Nottingham and Bedford. Rail replacement buses will run to Milton Keynes Central.

Passengers have been warned that trains to and from London on this line could take up to an hour longer (and diversions are expected). Thameslink trains will be badly affected.

Roads

The RAC and transport analytics company Inrix are predicting that a total of 29.3 million car journeys will be made between Wednesday December 18 and Christmas Eve, the most since the RAC began recording the data in 2013 – and many more than last year’s 21 million.

The weekend before Christmas (which this year falls on December 21 and 22) is typically the busiest time to travel. If you do have to take to the roads on those days, the advice is to set off as early or as late as possible, avoiding lunchtime. Drivers should factor in extra time for their journey; those driving in London should expect journey time to be doubled.

Happily, though, National Highways has said that more than 95 per cent of roadworks on England’s motorways and major A roads would be lifted from 6am on Friday December 20. Most will not be begin again until January 2.

Airports

While last-minute disruptions and the forecast stormy weather conditions could affect air travel over the festive period, it can also be the cheapest time to fly. On Christmas Day especially, fares tend to plummet, meaning discounted travel to a home nation (or winter sun destination) can be particularly good value. British Airways, for example, is operating a larger-than-ever service out of London Heathrow on the big day, with return flights to San Francisco, for example, costing as little as £685.

Currently, no airport closures or strike action is planned at Christmas in the UK.

This article is kept up to date with the latest information.