Christmas getaway hell: Millions of Brits travelling home during National Highways and rail strike

Millions will hit the road for their festive getaway today in what could become a traffic nightmare, before rail and bus drivers walkout tomorrow as Christmas travel chaos hits the country. 

The military and civil servants have been called in to help at Heathrow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow and Manchester airports, and the port of Newhaven in East Sussex as up to 1,000 Border Force staff walk out on Friday.

While these workers continue their strike into Saturday, staff represented by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and Abellio London bus workers will also launch separate waves of action – with shoppers warned to avoid trips on Christmas Eve.

It comes as drivers are being warned to prepare for long queues as millions of people embark on journeys to spend Christmas with friends and family.

The scene at 4.54am this morning as passengers queue for check-in at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 1

The M25 in Kent was already busy with traffic in the early morning on Friday as drivers battled heavy rain

A severe traffic alert was issued for a stretch of the M25 on Friday morning, and two serious incidents were seen on the M1. 

The AA said that Friday will be the busiest day on the roads this week, with an estimated 16.9 million people making journeys across the UK.

A further 16.6 million people are expected to travel on Christmas Eve.

Traffic could be made worse by any accidents, and police are already appealing for witnesses to a fatal crash on the M20 last night.

Junction four of the M20 westbound in Kent remains closed on Friday morning .

National Highways said vehicles are being diverted on to exit and entry slip roads, causing three miles of congestion and delays of at least 45 minutes.

At just before 6pm, a white Volvo lorry, a blue Peugeot and a grey Audi were involved in a collision at Junction 4 of the London-bound M20 near New Hythe.

Officers attended along with South East Coast Ambulance Service and a man in his 50s was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are carrying out enquiries.

Congestion could be increased due to a strike by thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail causing train services to finish at around 3pm on Saturday.

The RAC said roads will be busiest on Friday – the last working day before Christmas – between 10am and 7pm.

Transport analytics company Inrix expects journey times to be around 14 per cent longer compared with the same period last year.

The RAC singled out the M25 clockwise between Junction 7 and Junction 16 as an area to avoid on Friday afternoon – with data from Inrix suggesting average vehicle speeds for this stretch of road could be as low as 26mph.

Other roads likely to be hit by congestion include the M60 near Manchester, the M6 in north-west England and the M40 in Oxfordshire.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: ‘We’re expecting to see lengthy delays on parts of the M25 today as Christmas getaway and end-of-the-week commuter traffic combine.

‘We advise drivers, if possible, to avoid these roads around this time or delay their trips until after 7pm this evening when traffic is predicted to be lighter.

‘A single vehicle breakdown also has the potential to add to the queues, so we encourage motorists to complete a few pre-drive checks before setting out – in particular ensuring oil and coolant levels are correct, and tyres have plenty of tread and are properly inflated.’

National Highways said almost 98 per cent of England’s motorways and major A-roads will be fully open until the end of January 2 due to it completing and lifting roadworks.

AA head of roads policy Jack Cousens said: ‘We are advising those heading out in their cars to be prepared for some congestion, especially on popular routes heading out of London.

‘The rail strikes have convinced more people to travel by car this year, and while hundreds of miles of roadworks have been removed to ease the pain, it might not be enough to keep the queues away.’

AA boss Edmund King said driving home for Christmas could ‘spiral into a traffic nightmare’, the Independent reports. 

‘We’ve issued an amber traffic warning for Friday and Christmas Eve due to an expected 17 million drivers on the roads,’ he added.

It is estimated a third of train-users are planning to drive instead, leading to challenging conditions on the roads with heavy rain on Friday morning. 

Inrix transportation analyst Bob Pishue said: ‘With pre-pandemic levels of travellers hitting the road this holiday, drivers must be prepared for delays – especially in and around major cities.’

Border Force, Royal Mail, National Highways and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) employees are all taking industrial action on Friday. 

RMT railway workers will stage another strike from 6pm on Christmas Eve, which could prevent people from making it home for Christmas.

Post-Christmas, strike dates have been set until January 26, with industrial action taking place daily until January 13 as the schedule stands.

More than 250,000 passengers arriving at UK airports on Friday have been warned to expect delays due to strikes by around 1,000 Border Force staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.

There will be 1,290 flights arriving into the airports, with 579 at Heathrow, 326 at Gatwick, 197 at Manchester and 98n at Birmingham aviation analytic firm Cirium reported. 

The Home Office has said that it is trying to minimise delays for passengers during the strikes.

Steve Dann, Border Force’s chief operating officer, said that the military and civil servants will ‘not be able to operate with the same efficiency as our permanent workforce’ and are ‘sacrificing their Christmases’ as he told people to expect delays, the BBC reported.

A fatal collision on the M20 at rush hour on Thursday evening involved one lorry and two cars

Police are appealing for any witnesses to call 01622 798538 quoting reference HW/COJ/143/22

The collision occurred at Junction 4 of the London-bound M20 near New Hythe

The Christmas getaway is well underway on the UK’s motorways, with warnings to drivers to expect heavy traffic

In Manchester Airport’s Terminal 3 large queues were forming early on Friday morning as Border Force staff go on strike

Members of the military and the civil service have been called in to help at Manchester Airport (pictured) today

A passenger sleeping at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 on Friday morning

People flying out of the country’s busiest airport, Heathrow, are unlikely to be delayed, with the biggest impact being felt by those arriving into the country.

E-passport gates will be open, but these cannot be used by all.

The airport is due to see 579 flights arrive today, with more than 10,000 people arriving before 7am, the BBC reported. 

Adam Jones, head of passenger operations a Gatwick told BBC Radio 4 that there is ‘plenty of space in the terminals to manage large queues’.

He added: ‘The worst case we see is potentially two hours, however we have extra staff in the airport to look after passengers’ welfare.

‘We do have the ability to control the trafficking to the airport if the situation requires it, but at the moment we don’t expect to use that.’

Passengers queue for check-in at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 3 on Friday morning

A passenger sleeping at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 3 on Friday morning

John Strickland, independent aviation consultant told Radio 4 that hundreds of thousands of pounds are dependent on what happens at the airports.

‘Each airport that’s affected by the strike action will be affected in different ways,’ he said.

‘Gatwick is predominantly an airport serving short-haul flights, more European flights, not so many long-haul and larger, wide-bodied aircraft.

‘If we contrast that with Heathrow, which in the next few hours is going to see the onslaught of long-haul, large aircraft arriving, that’s a different combination of traffic.

‘Also, the use of e-gates, which is common at UK airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, should ease the strain, but in Gatwick there’s probably going to be a higher ratio of people eligible to use them with more Brits, more Europeans.

‘Then there’s the case of Heathrow where there’s a bigger mix of nationalities therefore more pressure.’

He added: ‘Christmas is one of the bright spots in the winter for airlines where they should be able to make money. 

‘Flights are not surprisingly full, but if passengers are having to be booked on other days and airlines have offered that opportunity or if on the day they’re disrupted, then airlines have to incur significant compensation costs.

‘Although this is an issue affecting flight arrivals, the concern would be if there are big queues, and certainly I’ve heard evidence from a couple of industry colleagues even arriving last night of queues of two-and-a-half hours or so, at Heathrow Terminal Three as an example, then that could lead to passengers being backed up right up through to the gate at which they arrive. 

‘And if people in those queues can’t physically get of the aircraft, then aircraft may not be able to be prepared for the next flight, so we could potentially get delays or cancelations of outbound flights.’

A spokesperson for the airport added that arriving passengers were being processed ‘as normal’ at Gatwick Airport despite the Border Force strike.

They said: ‘Everything is going OK at the moment. There’s plenty of staff. The e-gates are all operating. It’s going well.

‘There’s no delays as far as we’re aware, and no queues at the moment.

‘I’m standing in arrivals and passengers are flowing through as normal.’

This comes during the busiest Christmas for airports since 2019, as the first festive period without coronavirus travel restrictions since the start of the pandemic.

Queues were seen at Manchester Airport on Friday morning, with some passengers sleeping on chairs or the floor during their wait. 

Manchester Airport’s Terminal 1 was busy on Friday morning as the Christmas get away takes hold

A passenger sleeping at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 1 on Friday morning

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), pictured here outside Euston Station on December 13, will go on strike from Christmas Eve

Earlier this week, the airport said in a statement: ‘We do not anticipate any cancellations and passengers do not need to change their travel plans unless otherwise advised by their airline.’ 

Travellers could face months of disruption unless the Government comes forward with an improved pay offer, the leader of striking Border Force staff has warned.

PCS union general secretary Mark Serwotka predicted a ‘huge escalation’ in industrial action in January across the Civil Service unless ministers enter into negotiations.

‘We think that the action at the borders is going to be very effective. We hope that the Government will therefore do the right thing and get around the negotiating table and put some money upfront,’ he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

‘If not, we are raising money, we have a strike fund that means we can sustain this action. Our strike mandate lasts right up until May. We will be supporting this action up to May and we would re-ballot again if we have to.

‘It think in January what you will see is a huge escalation of this action in the Civil Service and across the rest of our economy unless the Government get around the negotiating table.’

Meanwhile, National Highways workers in London and the South East, also represented by the PCS, will continue their four-day walkout which started on Thursday.

The workers, who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the roads, are following action by colleagues in Yorkshire and Humber, north-west and north-east England.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said they plan to ‘escalate’ action ahead of Christmas and it is ‘likely to inconvenience travellers’.

He told Radio 4: ‘We think that the action at the borders is going to be very effective. We hope that the Government will therefore do the right thing and get around the negotiating table and put some money upfront,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

‘If not, we are raising money, we have a strike fund that means we can sustain this action. Our strike mandate lasts right up until May. We will be supporting this action up to May and we would re-ballot again if we have to.

‘I think in January what you will see is a huge escalation of this action in the civil service and across the rest of our economy unless the Government get around the negotiating table.’