As Storm Goretti continues to cause mayhem across the UK, these are the latest problems for travellers on Friday and into the weekend.
Rail
“Passengers in the West Midlands have been urged not to travel on the railway this morning following significant disruption caused by Storm Goretti,” says Network Rail.
“Train services today (Friday 9 January) are extremely limited as a result of the weather conditions and many routes are closed,” the organisation warns.
East Midlands Railway says “We strongly advise you to avoid travelling unless absolutely necessary” until routes reopen.
Nottingham is particularly badly affected, with routes to Sheffield, Norwich and Lincoln starting later in the morning
Avanti West Coast has “Do Not Travel” advice for its route from Birmingham and Coventry to London Euston. The link from Coventry to Leamington is closed.
Northern has closed links across the Peak District until Saturday, and lines from Matlock towards Derby will close until mid-morning. There are no trains until later between Huddersfield and Barnsley.
CrossCountry has cancelled or curtailed dozens of trains because of problems in the southwest and Midlands. CrossCountry and GWR trains are not running west of Plymouth into Cornwall. Services may not resume until late in the day.
Transport for Wales has suspended many lines, including:
- Birmingham International via Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth
- All services west of Carmarthen
- Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog
- Craven Arms to Swansea (via Heart of Wales Line)
- Hereford to Shrewsbury
Read more: What are your rights if your train is cancelled or delayed?
Road
Edmund King, president of the AA, has warned motorists of “pretty treacherous driving conditions this morning” – particularly across Wales, the Midlands and north into Yorkshire. “If you can delay or avoid your journey, it will be much safer to do so,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Some A roads in the Midlands are close to impassable because of the heavy snow. Three lanes are closed on the M1 in Derbyshire between junctions 28 (Alfreton) and 29 (Chesterfield) due to an accident, with long tailbacks.
The main north-south road through mid-Wales, the A483, is closed between Crossgates and Newtown due to unstable trees.
Fallen trees have blocked the A30 in Cornwall between Penzance and Hayle. National Highways says: “Specialist crews are on scene and working to clear the trees from the carriageway.”
Traffic Scotland is warning motorists everywhere in the Highlands of ice and snow, and urging them to be aware of reduced visibility, snow gate closures and abandoned vehicles obstructing the road.
Air
Fifty flights on Friday morning have been cancelled to and from London Heathrow airport. The number of aircraft allowed to land has been cut to maintain safe separations.
A dozen of the cancellations are British Airways domestic departures to and from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Jersey and Manchester.
A further 30 BA flights to continental Europe are cancelled, including links to Madrid, Prague and Milan.
In addition, Air France, Aer Lingus KLM and Scandinavian airlines have grounded flights to their respective hubs.
The Independent estimates that around 7,000 passengers will have their travel plans changed as a result.
The first flight from Birmingham airport for 10 hours departed at 8am on Friday: an easyJet departure to Barcelona, which was two hours late. Many planes were diverted because of heavy snow throughout the night.
The runway closed at 9.30pm on Thursday. Flights were diverted to Heathrow, Manchester, Stansted, Luton, Liverpool and East Midlands – which itself then closed for a time.
Many hundreds of passengers spent the evening hoping they would be above to depart, but the runway did not reopen as hoped. They include an Emirates Boeing 777 to Dubai, which was the last plane in on Thursday night before it closed.
Flights have been cancelled on Friday morning to destinations including Amsterdam and Paris.
Ferry
Many of Thursday’s sailings were either cancelled or “preponed” – moved earlier – to avoid the worst of the storm. The early morning Irish Ferries sailing from Dublin to Holyhead was cancelled, as is the return sailing at 7.30pm. The same applies to Stena Line’s early morning sailing from Fishguard to Rosslare.
Friday’s sailing from Poole to Cherbourg and back on Brittany Ferries is cancelled.
This piece is kept updated with the latest information
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