Travel news live: Christmas getaway delays as snow hits M62 and trains, ferries and flights cancelled
Christmas getaway delays as 100 Heathrow flights cancelled amid 80mph wind weather warnings
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Thousands of travellers hoping to reach home for Christmas have had to organise last minute alternatives, as flights, ferries and trains continue to be cancelled. Over 100 flights at Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, have been cancelled [1]on Sunday, while dozens of ferry routes in Scotland and Ireland are no longer running due to the bad weather.Snow overnight has caused disruption on the M62 with one lane closed, as the RAC advise drivers to be cautious as millions take to the motorways this wekend. Eighty of the Heathrow cancellations are on British Airways, involving short-haul domestic and European flights. Three round-trips to Amsterdam and Glasgow have been grounded.
Rail passengers are also facing another chaotic Sunday as Northern cancels all trains on 11 routes. It comes as weather warnings kick in for parts of the UK on Saturday as millions more people get away for Christmas.[2]Yellow warnings for wind are in place from 7am on Saturday to 9pm on Sunday in the North West, the North East, Scotland and parts of Wales and Northern Ireland.
Met Office's five day weather forecast
This Evening and Tonight:
Showers becoming confined to far eastern coasts and winds will slowly ease.Clear spells developing overnight for most, but cloud building in the west towards dawn. Feeling cold overnight with a touch of frost in some prone spots.
Monday:
Dry and fine in the east with prolonged periods of sunshine, though feeling chilly. Outbreaks of rain and extensive low cloud spreading into western areas, and turning mild.
Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:
Predominantly settled, mild and cloudy for the Christmas period. Best chance of brighter spells to the east of high ground. Wetter and windier across northwest Scotland.
Holly Evans23 December 2024 00:00
Met Office reveals whether white Christmas is coming to UK in forecast
Britons hoping for a white Christmas[3] are set to be sorely disappointed with a mild and grey 25 December, forecasters have predicted. However, the day is likely to be settled, cloudy and dry with light winds for most of the UK, according to the forecaster. Read the full article here:
Holly Evans22 December 2024 22:00
Winds up to 82mph recorded
The Met Office has recorded winds up to 82mph in Kirkwall as a yellow weather warning continues to remain in place. Other high recordings include South Uist Range also at 82mph and St Bees Head which reached 76mph. Holly Evans22 December 2024 21:00
Flights and ferries to Scottish islands cancelled amid yellow warning for wind
Windy weather has caused travel disruption for people living on Scottish islands, with ferries and flights cancelled.
A Met Office yellow weather warning for wind is in place until 9pm on Sunday, covering the whole of Scotland as well as areas south of the border. Several Loganair flights from Glasgow Airport to the Hebridean islands have been cancelled, and 18 CalMac ferry routes have also been axed. Gusts of 82mph were recorded at Kirkwall on Orkney and at South Uist in the Outer Hebrides - the strongest winds across the UK as of 2.30pm on Sunday, the Met Office said,
CalMac cited "strong winds with gusts up to 60mph" as the reason it cancelled all sailings on the Troon to Brodick service, connecting Ayrshire with the Isle of Arran. The ferry operator pledged to review cancellations on the Oban to Craignure route, connecting Argyll and Bute with the Isle of Mull, with the possibility that a 7.20pm sailing could go ahead on Sunday.
Ferries have been cancelled due to strong winds (PA) (PA Archive)
Holly Evans22 December 2024 20:00
How to avoid travel chaos on road and rail this Christmas and New Year
Amber warnings for traffic gridlock[4], threatened strikes and the traditional rail engineering work interrupting major train links: it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas[5]. The festive season this winter will be busier than ever, with record numbers of travellers predicted at London Heathrow[6] and many other airports, as well as on Britain's motorways[7].
These are the key pinch points and potential problems - to help you plan to swerve the disruption, or at least to be prepared for crowds and chaos. Read the full article here: Holly Evans22 December 2024 19:00
An acceptable level of travel cancellations?
Discuss
Holly Evans22 December 2024 18:00
Caledonian MacBrayne: further disruption for passengers to the Western Isles
Scotland's main ferry operator, Caledonian MacBrayne, has cancelled most sailings to and from the Western Isles for the rest of Sunday due to extreme weather - and has also revised schedules for Monday and Christmas Eve. The shipping firm says the first sailing from Ardrossan to Brodick on the isle of Arran is cancelled on Monday. On Tuesday (Christmas Eve), the link between Oban and the island of Barra has been rescheduled, with the morning sailing from the island brought forward by three hours to 4am.
After crossing to Oban, the vessel will spend only 15 minutes in port before sailing back to Barra four hours ahead of schedule. As a result of rescheduling, a sailing from Oban to the island of Mull is cancelled on Christmas Eve morning. Holly Evans22 December 2024 17:00
Christmas getaway delays as more than 100 flights cancelled at Heathrow
Christmas getaway delays as more than 100 flights cancelled at HeathrowHolly Evans22 December 2024 16:30
Watch live: Planes struggle to land in strong winds at London's Heathrow Airport
Holly Evans22 December 2024 15:50
Temperatures to be 'extremely mild' over Christmas
Looking ahead to next week, conditions are expected to improve and the UK could see a "grey Christmas", rather than a white one.
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: "We're expecting to see some sunny spells further east and a lot of cloud from the west. "Temperatures should rise considerably and it will be extremely mild over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. "In England and Wales, temperatures will be well above average with some grey in the mix.
We're expecting an average of around 12C or 13C on Christmas Eve and 11C or 12C on Christmas Day.
The usual average for this time of year is 7C or 8C so we'll be around double where we usually are.
"Overnight temperatures in Scotland for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be extremely mild."
People hoping for a white Christmas are likely to be disappointed (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Archive)
Holly Evans22 December 2024 15:13
References
- ^ Christmas getaway disruption as some flights cancelled due to high winds (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ more people get away for Christmas. (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ Christmas (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ traffic gridlock (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ Christmas (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ Heathrow (www.independent.co.uk)
- ^ motorways (www.independent.co.uk)