Flooding brings delays on major motorways and train lines to start new year

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National Highways says flooding is no longer causing any issues on the M6. A notice warning drivers about delays has been removed from the Traffic England website.

Lanes southbound between junctions J19 and J18 were closed for most of the day.

Now the only disruption on the motorway is a broken-down vehicle southbound between junctions J15 and J14. Traffic should clear up by 3.45pm.

Northern has since released a fuller version of a ‘do not travel’ warning it issued this morning.

The notice says: ‘Due to severe weather and flooding, customers are advised not to travel by Northern trains on Wednesday 1 January. 

‘There is significant rail disruption, across the entire country due to heavy rain and wind.

‘If you do choose to travel, please check your journey in full before you leave, as many services will not be running.

‘Other train operators in the region are also expecting services to be heavily impacted, so check any connections or alternatives before travelling.’ 

There are ways you can get a refund, however. Read our nifty guide about how to do so here.

A person has been hit by a train between Clapham Junction/London Euston and Watford Junction, National Rail says.

‘Whilst the emergency services carry out their work, all lines between these stations are closed,’ it said.

Delays of up to one hour are expected until 5.15pm. Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, London Overground and Southern services have been affected.

Network Rail added: ‘If you’ve been affected by what happened on the network today, there is always someone to talk to. You can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 from any phone for a confidential chat.’

Highway officials said earlier today that Google Maps, the go-to GPS for millions of British drivers, was incorrectly displaying road closures.

National Highways has since said that after raising the issue with Google, it ‘appears now to be resolved’.

There is a tree blocking the railway between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog, two towns in Conwy and Gwynedd respectively. Because of it, no trains can hop between the two stops.

And the disruption won’t come to an end until the end of the day, says National Rail.

Manchester Piccadilly, the city’s main train station, has been rocked hard by floods. Many routes going in and out of it have been cancelled.

The station’s account on X shared photos of the submerged tracks in Mobberly, a village about 15 miles south of the city, which is why ‘trains can’t run between Northwich and Stockport’.

‘We’re on-site to resolve this issue ASAP,’ the account added.

‘Due to heavy rain flooding the railway between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, fewer trains are able to run on all lines.’

This is the latest update from Northern. Manchester is the third-busiest airport in the country, and it’ll be trickier to get to until about 3pm.

The M6, Britain’s longest motorway, is still struggling with flooding.

One lane of the road heading southbound between junctions J19 and J18 is closed.

One out of three lanes are closed on the M6 southbound between junctions J37 and J36 due to a traffic collision. Highway officials expect normal traffic conditions to resume by 1pm.

‘Train services running across the whole South Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.’

This is from a notice on the SWR website. The company says strong winds and heavy rain are rattling the network, with revisions also likely.

Tickets, however, are not accepted on local buses.

There’s been an avalanche of weather warnings from the Met Office this week – and now the weather service has issued another.

And it’s a big one. A three-day-long yellow weather warning for snow which kicks in from noon Saturday to 7am Monday and covers all regions of England other than the south west. Up to 30cm of the white stuff may fall.

The warning says: ‘There is a chance of travel delays on roads with some stranded vehicles and passengers, along with delayed or cancelled rail and air travel.’

South Western Railway disrupted by a line-side fire in the Raynes Park area of London have begun to reopen.

But this doesn’t mean the disruption is over. Services between Wimbledon and Epsom/Woking may still be cancelled, delayed by half an hour or revised.

This will be the case until 1pm, National Rail says.

Another yellow weather warning has been put in place by the Met Office for ice.

The alert, which says the conditions are ‘likely’ to cause disruption, will see patches of ice spread across untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths across a massive chunk of the UK.

Weather officials say that whether hitting the road or boarding the train, people should check road conditions or timetables in advance and, ‘if necessary’, change their routes.

The alert stretches across central and southern Scotland, Northern Ireland, the North West and North East of England and northern Wales.

A tree blocking the railway between Oxted, Surrey, and Hurst Green, Lancashire, is causing 20-minute delays on the Southern route between Oxted and East Grinstead/Uckfield.

Southern doesn’t expect the issue to be resolved until 12.30pm.

Stations with limited service include:

• Sanderstead
• Riddlesdown
• Upper Warlingham
• Woldingham
• Lingfield
• Dormans
• East Grinstead

Northern said just before 9.45am that so many routes in North West England have been engulfed by floodwater that a ‘do not travel warning’ has been issued.

‘Network Rail Engineers are on site trying to resolve the issues,’ the operator added on X.

It’s a bit of a ghost town over on ScotRail. None of the company’s 36 routes across more than 350 stations are running today.

A revised timetable will operate tomorrow.

A fire has broken out by the tracks at Raynes Park, near Wimbledon, London, South Western Railway says, causing disruption not expected to ease until 3pm.

SWR said the line-side fire – which typically sees shrubbery growing along the rail corridor catch alight – means that the line towards Epsom is blocked.

Disrupted routes include:

• London Waterloo to Chessington South services will be diverted after Raynes Park and finish their journey at Surbiton
• London Waterloo to Dorking services will finish their journey at Raynes Park
• London Waterloo to Guildford via Epsom services will be diverted via Cobham, calling additionally at Surbiton
• Chessington South to London Waterloo services will start from Surbiton
• Dorking to London Waterloo services will start from Leatherhead

Disruption to trains between Manchester Oxford Road and Widnes isn’t going away anytime soon, EMR says.

The train operator said on X that tickets with it are being accepted with other routes.

A stretch of the M4 was closed both ways this morning after a vehicle caught fire.

The blaze broke out on the eastbound carriageway of the motorway in Swansea between junctions J47 and J46.

Traffic officials posted an image of the charred-out vehicle on X.

But the police confirmed just after 9.10am that the road had re-opened despite initially saying it would be barred for ‘some time’.

‘Thank you for your patience,’ the force said on Facebook.