Christmas travel chaos with bad weather grounding flights and closing roads

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Bakerloo line: Severe delays between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone and minor delays on the rest of the line because of signalling problem at Kensal Green. Tickets are being accepted on London Buses. Good service on the rest of the line.

Circle line: Severe delays due to an earlier obstruction on the track at Whitechapel.

Part of the M1 is closed southbound following a crash.

It is impacting drivers between junction 12 for Flitwick and Toddington and junction 11a for Dunstable.

It is not yet known when this part of the motorway will reopen.

An operational incident at Kensal Green means some lines are currently disrupted.

As a result, London Overground services between London Euston and Watford Junction may be cancelled or revised.

Disruption is expected until 8pm.

A shortage of train crew between West Ealing and Greenford means trains will be cancelled from 8.450m until the end of service.

Disruption is expected until the end of service.

The M53 is closed in both directions between J3 and J2 near Birkenhead on the Wirral, Merseyside.

The nature of the incident is not yet clear.

National Highways said: ‘Traffic Officers are on scene and assisting with strategic closures on the approach.’

There is currently no District line service on the London Underground between Earl’s Court and Kensington (Olympia) due to train cancellations.

Piccadilly line services remain partly closed and severely delayed. The DLR is part closed until December 30.

The M48 Severn Bridge has reopened after earlier being closed due to strong winds.

But not the A15 Humber Bridge – the UK’s longest suspension bridge – has also been closed in both directions to high sided and vulnerable vehicles.

National Highways said: ‘Traffic wishing to use the northbound A15 should head west on the A180 on to the M180. At the end of this motorway join the M18 north and at the end of that motorway take the M62 eastbound and then on to the A63 eastbound.

‘For southbound traffic follow the above route in reverse: A63 west, M62 west and exit at J35 on to the M18 south. Exit at J5 and take the M180 eastbound and continue to the A180.’

Earlier, the A66 in Cumbria and North Yorkshire was closed due to strong wind.

Now the weather has forced the M48 across the River Severn to close in both directions too. Drivers are urged to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge instead.

This happens when gusts exceed 46mph. National Highways said: ‘During windy conditions the Severn Estuary can funnel strong gusts across the bridges, which can be hazardous to traffic.

‘The M4 Prince of Wales Bridge has barriers which reduce the effects of these gusts. However, the older design of the M48 Severn Bridge didn’t include these.’

This Air Lingus flight was just touching the tarmac at Leeds Bradford Airport when a 57mph gust of wind blew it sideways.

In particularly strong winds, pilots may angle the plane so its nose goes against the wind to counteract it.

A road traffic collision has closed two of three southbound lanes on the M1 between J6A and J6 near St Albans.

This is causing delays of around 15 minutes, which is expected to last until 12.45pm.

There is also knock-on congestion further up the motorway to J8, and on the connecting A414 eastbound.

A person has been hit by a train between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction stations in south London.

Emergency lines are on the scene, with the electricity supply switched off to give them safe access.

Trains to and from London Victoria are unable to run between Brixton and Shortlands as a result.

Southeastern services will either be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes, or diverted via Catford or Lewisham until 1pm.

Southern services will be cancelled or revised until 2pm.

The daily commute might be over now the last weekend before Christ mas is here.

But passengers may still run into problems on TfL’s network.

There will be no DLR services between Shadwell and Bank from today until Monday, December 30. Until Tuesday, there will also be no service between Prince Regent and Beckton.

Piccadilly line is yet again part closed, with no services between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge due to a train shortage caused by leaf fall. There are severe delays on the rest of the line.

The Waterloo & City line has reduced hours as part of a planned closure. It is only operating Monday to Friday between 6am and 12.30am. There is no service on Saturdays, Sundays and on public/bank holidays.

The A66 is closed in both directions between A1M and the M6 due to strong winds in the areas.

Drivers trying to pass the Pennines should instead take routes like the A69, National Highways warned.

Initially the road was just closed to ‘high sided and vulnerable vehicles’ before the road was closed.

High-speed winds of up to 80mph could delay trains and buses, even causing some cancellation, today.

The hazard has prompted the Met Office to issue yellow weather warnings in parts of the UK.

In Scotland, this includes:

• Aberdeen
• Aberdeenshire
• Highlands
• Na h-Eileanan Siar
• Orkney & Shetland
• Angus
• Clackmannanshire
• Dundee
• Falkirk
• Fife
• Perth and Kinross
• Stirling
• Dumfries and Galloway
• East Lothian
• Edinburgh
• Midlothian Council
• Scottish Borders
• West Lothian
• Argyll and Bute
• East Ayrshire
• East Dunbartonshire
• East Renfrewshire
• Glasgow
• Inverclyde
• North Ayrshire
• North Lanarkshire
• Renfrewshire
• South Ayrshire
• South Lanarkshire
• West Dunbartonshire

England

• Derbyshire
• Darlington
• Durham
• Gateshead
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• North Tyneside
• Northumberland
• South Tyneside
• Stockton-on-Tees
• Sunderland
• Blackburn with Darwen
• Blackpool
• Cheshire West and Chester
• Cumbria
• Greater Manchester
• Halton
• Lancashire
• Merseyside
• Warrington
• North Yorkshire
• South Yorkshire
• West Yorkshire

Wales:

• Conwy
• Denbighshire
• Flintshire
• Gwynedd
• Isle of Anglesey

Northern Ireland

• County Antrim
• County Down
• County Fermanagh
• County Londonderry
• County Tyrone

There are at least four miles of traffic jams on the M6 after a multi-vehicle crash near Crewe today.

Images from traffic cameras show the crawl of cars, vans and lorries along the stretch near Sandbach and Holmes Chapel.

Two of the four northbound lanes between J17 and J18 are closed, causing 30-minute delays.