Storms, strikes and gridlock to cause Christmas chaos IT’S HOLIDAY HELL FOR TRAVELLERS
BRITAIN faces a Christmas travel nightmare with a “perfect storm” of wild weather and road, rail and air chaos.
Frustrated travellers will struggle to get anywhere as they encounter 123 miles of roadworks, 260 rail engineering works, strikes and airport delays.
And stormy conditions due for most by Christmas Eve will make things even tougher.
Some Ryanair pilots are set to go on strike on Wednesday. And on the railways, workers at Virgin West Coast, Merseyrail, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia and South Western Railway are all planning to strike over the festive period.
Air travellers will be hit by rail works which will axe all trains to Heathrow and Gatwick. They also face long airport queues, with around 600,000 people flying from Heathrow in the next week, and almost a million from Gatwick over the eye-catching plate can be used on any car.
But branding expert Marcel Knobil told the Daily Star Sunday Clifford’s convictions could devalue it.
He said: “The number plate on its own has an intrinsic value, when it is not associated with the man who owned it. His name carries absolutely no value and no attraction, which may cause issues when it comes to selling it.” Clifford was sentenced to eight years in jail in 2014 for eight indecent assaults on women aged 15 to 19.
He died in hospital on Sunday after being rushed from Littlehey Prison, Cambs. SLOW GOING: Drivers can expect to be hampered by stormy weather and roadworks, while airport passengers face long queues
two-week holidays. Four million Brits will flee abroad over Christmas, with many enjoying winter sun or skiing.
More than 20million vehicles will clog roads during the festive break, analysts Inrix revealed. The worst delays will result in 1hr trips on the M6 southbound taking up to 5hrs, and 30min trips on the M25 taking more than 2hrs 30min.
The RAC said the worst jams will be between 4-7pm on Friday. Spokesman Simon Williams added: “Friday will be
frantic and one of the busiest days of the year on the roads. Saturday will be slow going. Expect delays.”
Motorists will battle miles of roadworks at 27 locations. A Highways England spokesman said: “Essential works will be left in place.”
Twenty million rail journeys will be made over the festive fortnight, with some trip times doubling due to works.
Network Rail’s biggest Christmas engineering programme will see 260 projects at
3,400 locations over 11 days, costing around
£160m.
Delays will hit five of Britain’s seven mainline routes: London Paddington to the West, London Bridge to the South-East, London Liverpool Street to the East, London Euston to Glasgow and London Waterloo to the South West.
The Rail Delivery Group said: “Carrying out vital work over Christmas and New Year, when fewer people use the railway, will help minimise disruption.”