The year is beginning with millions of travellers on the move – but with disruption on the railways and roads, and in the skies. These are the key concerns.
Rail
The final weekend of the festive season will see many travellers displaced to other lines by Network Rail line closures, while severe weather wlll cause disruption.
Network Rail says: “In very cold weather, snow and ice can build up on the tracks blocking points, the equipment that allows trains to move between tracks. Ice can coat the electrified third rail and overhead power cables, preventing trains from drawing the power they need to run and leaving them stranded. Icicles on tunnels, bridges and other structures can also damage trains and overhead power cables.”
Widespread Network Rail engineering work is underway. Some key stations and lines are closed, putting pressure on other routes.
The West Coast Main Line, which connects London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, north Wales and southern Scotland, remains closed on the key stretch from Milton Keynes and Rugby up to and including 4 January.
A key junction at Hanslope, south of Rugby, is being replaced. Rail replacement bus services will operate. In addition, Chiltern Railway from London Marylebone to Birmingham, the East Coast Main Line north from London King’s Cross and the East Midlands line from London St Pancras will take the strain.
Further north, the West Coast Main Line is closed in Cumbria to enable Network Rail to replace an ageing bridge over the M6 motorway. The line will not reopen until 15 January. Avanti West Coast is providing a scenic train diversion along England’s most beautiful line, the Settle-Carlisle Railway.
Until 6 January the line from Carlisle to Lockerbie is also closed, with rail replacement buses.
No trains will run on the main line between Leeds and York until the start of services on 3 January.
London Liverpool Street station – the busiest in Britain – has reopened after eight four days of engineering work.
Road
For the next two weekends, starting at 8pm tonight, the M6 in Cumbria is closed to motorists between junctions 39 and 40, reopening at 5am on Monday – with the same pattern of closure from 9 to 12 January.
In addition, the M27 in Hampshire is closed between junctions 9 and 11 until 4am on 4 January.
Traffic will build through the weekend leading to the return to work on Monday 5 January. Some prospective key locations for congestion are:
- M25, particularly between the M4 at Heathrow and the M1, plus near Bluewater in Kent
- M4 from M5 junction near Bristol to Cardiff
- M5 south of Bristol and also close to the M6 junction in the West Midlands
- M6 through the West Midlands from the M42 junction to Wolverhampton
- M60 around Manchester, near the Trafford Centre and between junction 7 (Altrincham) and the M62 junction
Ferry
Sailings are running normally between the Port of Dover, Calais and Dunkirk. The port is urging drivers not to arrive more than two hours before their scheduled departure.
Unlike aviation, there is no penalty for missing a ferry at Dover due to congestion; you will simply be rebooked free of charge. “If you missed your ferry, please don’t worry,” the port is telling motorists. “You’ll be put on the next available sailing.”
Caledonian MacBrayne ferries in western Scotland are disrupted on 2 January and through the first weekend of 2026 due to severe weather. Cancellations on Friday include some services between Ardrossan and Brodick (Arran). On the link to Islay, CalMac says “sailings are liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice due to forecast adverse weather”.
Air
During the 17 days of the festive spell from 19 December to 4 January, aviation analysts at Cirium report 42,046 flights are scheduled to depart from UK airports with a total of 7.8 million seats. That is an average of more than 100 takeoffs per hour, with almost 20,000 seats.
Departures are up 2 per cent compared with the festive period in 2024, and available departing seats are up 4 per cent year on year.
Many airports are expecting a surge in passenger numbers on Friday 2 and Sunday 4 January.
London Heathrow has the highest number of flights, with one in five departures being from the UK’s busiest hub. It is expecting its busiest festive spell to date, as are Birmingham and Manchester airports.
The top destinations from many airports are:
- Alicante
- Amsterdam
- Dubai
- Dublin
- Geneva
- Paris CDG
- Tenerife
Nearly 500 Emirates passengers who took off from London Heathrow for Dubai on Wednesday 31 December got no further than Maidstone in Kent before the pilots decided to turn back because of a landing gear door problem. The Airbus A380 SuperJumbo circled over Orpington for two hours to burn off fuel and landed safely, but it looks as though the passengers may see in the new year in from airport hotels in the Heathrow area.
A spokesperson for the airline said: “Emirates flight EK002 departed London Heathrow (LHR) for Dubai on 31 December 2025 after 13:40 GMT as scheduled, but returned to LHR shortly after take-off due to a technical fault.
“The flight landed back in LHR and passengers and crew were safely disembarked. All passengers will be rebooked to depart on future Emirates flights from LHR. Emirates apologises for any inconvenience caused, but the safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance and will not be compromised.”
Some transatlantic flights to the UK have been delayed from the eastern US and Canada, it is believed because of delays with de-icing. Toronto Pearson airport continues to see widespread cancellations due to extreme weather.
This article is kept updated with the latest information.
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