Millions of Britons travelling for Christmas face unprecedented travel disruption on Friday with “immense” pressure on roads, railways and airports.
Motorists have been warned the drive home could “spiral into a traffic nightmare” and be mired by breakdowns as 17 million drivers are expected on the roads in the next two days during a four-day National Highways walkout.
A quarter of a million airline passengers set to arrive in the UK on Friday face a strike by members of UK Border Force at six of the country’s biggest airports.
And passengers on trains will be hit by delays and cancellations between London, the West Midlands, the North West, north Wales and southern Scotland.
Rod Dennis of the RAC said: “It is a horrid picture for drivers for sure – the first Christmas in a few years where Covid hasn’t been a big feature, and now the impact of the strikes, including messages from the rail industry for ‘people not to travel’.
“Yet people have plans for Christmas that they want to go ahead with, so are forced onto the roads.”
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy, The PC Agency, said: “I’ve never seen such distress among people travelling over the festive period.
“The disruption is immense, across rail, road and air and people are having to reconsider their travel plans on a daily basis, based on whether workers turn up for their shifts or not. This should be a period of joy but there’s no such thing for millions caught out this Christmas.”
Members of the PCS union who normally check passports will walk out as part of a pay dispute. The strike begins on the busiest day of the winter for Heathrow and Gatwick, the two biggest airports in the UK.
Longer queues are expected also at Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff airports. The strike continues until 31 December, with Friday 30 December representing a peak day for returning British holidaymakers.
Once arriving passengers have made it through the airport, they may find their problems are only just beginning when they try to catch an onward train.
An overtime ban by members of the RMT union working for 14 train operators – part of a long and bitter dispute about pay, jobs and working arrangements – has sharply reduced services on many routes.
Rail passengers between London, the West Midlands, northwest England, north Wales and…
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