Christmas getaway chaos as Dover traffic builds and AA issues travel warning for 16m drivers – latest

The rail disruption is set to continue on Christmas Eve as London King’s Cross will be closed due to engineering works.

The closure of London Paddington will continue until Wednesday, meaning no mainline trains will serve Heathrow Airport.

Shadow transport minister Louise Haigh said the infrastructure has been “totally underinvested in”, causing “record delays and cancellations”.

She told Times Radio on Saturday that anyone who has tried to catch a train in the last couple of years will “almost certainly” have experienced delays, cancellations and poor service because the Government has “presided over the managed decline of our railways and has been totally prepared to accept status quo”.

Ms Haigh said the Labour Party has set out plans to reform railways to bring them into public ownership and “to bring decisions around infrastructure and the operations of the railways together”.

Maeve Patterson who is travelling through the Port of Dover took to X to share her irritation whilst waiting in line.

People travelling over to France for Christmas can expect an even longer wait.

The Port of Dover shared on X: “There is currently a 90-minute wait time ahead of French border controls as we help passengers get away for Christmas. Please check with your chosen ferry operator for further travel updates.”

The Met Office has warned there could be more weather-related travel issues in parts of the UK this weekend.

Christmas Eve travel plans could be ruined with heavy winds set to batter parts of the country ahead of a rain-soaked December 25.

Gusts as high as 60 to 70 mph are due to hit the north of Scotland and northern and central areas of England.

Two separate yellow wind warnings have been issued, saying people should expect travel disruption, damage to buildings and power cuts, while the rest of the country may see showers.

A yellow warning for rain covers much of Wales, with forecasters warning flooding and travel disruption is possible.

Passengers have faced severe delays this week due to Storm Pia, here is the railway situation today.

Network Rail warned severe weather was likely to impact some ScotRail routes.

Eurostar, which operates passenger services to and from London St Pancras, is operating two extra services per day between London and Paris up to and including Christmas Eve to help people whose trains were cancelled on Thursday.

Vehicle-carrying train service Eurotunnel is running its usual timetable but is only accepting customers who have pre-booked.

The Elizabeth line suffered severe delays on Friday afternoon between London Paddington, Reading and Heathrow Airport after two trains broke down.

Network Rail said disruption was expected between Mansfield and Worksop for the end of the day, as well as between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley, caused by damage to the overhead electric wires in the Aston area of Birmingham.

The A66 in Cumbria is closed in both directions between the A595 south (Bridgefoot) and the A595 north (Cockermouth) due to a serious collision.

Traffic has been diverted via local routes causing delays.

The M20 motorway in Kent has reopened between junctions 8 and 9 after it was closed due to Operation Brock, which involves organising a queue for freight traffic during disruption to cross-Channel services.

Travellers making cross-Channel journeys at the port of Dover have been urged to prepare for potential long waits as Christmas getaway disruption continues across the country.

P&O Ferries said there were estimated wait times of 60 minutes at border control.

The port has attributed the delay to a surge in demand for ferries after the Channel Tunnel rail link was closed on Thursday due to unscheduled industrial action by French workers, which ruined the travel plans of tens of thousands of people.

The ferry company advised travellers in a post on X: “There is an estimated wait time of 60mins to reach border control after entering the port.

“There are limited toilet facilities, we recommend stopping en route.

“Please come prepared with refreshments to make your wait more comfortable. Thank you for your patience.”

Scotland on Saturday would be lashed with rain and snow in the north, leading to some icy stretches.

The snow is expected to reach Northern Ireland and northern England later in the day, the Met Office predicts.

Southern parts of the country would be drier with bright or sunny spells, although it would be windy.

Generally windy and rather cloudy overnight, according to the Met Office. “Rain mostly in the west, particularly persistent for northwest England and west Wales.”

The yellow weather warning for snow and ice for north and northeast Scotland has been extended till Saturday afternoon.

“The warning cessation time has been extended into Saturday afternoon and now finishes at 3pm,” it said in an update.