’Tis the season to be jolly – unless you’re stuck on a motorway or in an airport departure lounge.
It’s been an extraordinary week for UK travel after a suspected drone effectively closed Gatwick airport for three days, with around 1,000 flights cancelled or diverted.
Thankfully that drama appears to be over ( 🤞) but it’s not the only thing that could affect your plans today – here’s a round-up of all the latest travel news.
The Roads
One saving grace is the worst of the Christmas road traffic has already passed, with Friday being the busiest day of the season.
But if you’re planning on a last-minute getaway or have left all your shopping to the last minute, you are warned to expect severe delays in some areas.
Half of UK motorists will take to main roads or motorways on Monday, according to AA research.
Commuter traffic will be reduced as many people booked the day off work for an extended Christmas break.
But this will be partly offset by increased leisure journeys, with more than one in five (23%) visiting family and friends and a further 16% making a shopping or other day trip.
Analysis by the RAC and traffic information supplier Inrix predicted that roads will be busiest between 11am and 1pm.
The worst road for long delays is expected to be the M1 northbound from Junction 21 (Coventry/Leicester) to Junction 26 (Nottingham/Ripley).
The M25, M5, M6 and M40 have also been identified as “likely to see significant delays” over the festive period.
Highways England lifted more than 200 miles of roadworks on the country’s motorways and major A-roads on Friday to ensure more than 97% of its network is open.
The Railways
Anyone hoping to escape motoring misery by catching a train could also face difficulties.
As usual, there will be no trains on Christmas Day and a limited service will run on Boxing Day.
But some of Network Rail’s 330 Christmas engineering projects have already begun, forcing a number of lines to be closed.
There are no services between London Victoria – the UK’s second busiest station – and Clapham Junction until January 2 due to track renewal.
Crossrail work means there are no trains operating to or from London Paddington on Sunday, Monday or December 30, with a reduced service on December 27, 28, 29 and 31.
This could cause problems for airline passengers using Heathrow Airport.
Liverpool Lime Street will have an amended service from Monday until New Year’s Day, affecting Virgin Trains, East Midlands Trains, London Northwestern Railway and Northern.
There are improvement projects at numerous other locations and passengers are urged to check the National Rail Enquiries website before they travel.
The Air
It’s been quite a week for UK air travel after a drone which may or may not have existed closed the country’s second-largest airport.
Around 1,000 flights were cancelled or diverted after drones were spotted inside the perimeter of the UK’s second biggest airport on Wednesday and approximately 140,000 passengers were affected.
As of Monday morning, the airport was operating as planned.
But spare a thought for Nicola, who appears to have drawn the short straw and will be manning Gatwick Airport’s Twitter account today.
A 47-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman who were arrested in the probe were released without charge after two nights in custody as police said they were no longer suspects.
Birmingham Airport has resumed operations after a technical glitch temporarily grounded flights on Sunday.
Staff said the disruption began at around 6pm and was cleared around two hours later.
All other major airports are currently operating as normal.