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Millions of travelers started traveling at the start of the new year, but rail, road and air traffic were disrupted. The Met Office has published ‘Danger to life’ weather warning Snow falls in the UK, transport will be affected. These are key questions.
Air
Thousands of passengers hoping to fly between the UK and Amsterdam have had their flights canceled due to heavy snow and strong winds at Schiphol Airport.
KLM, whose main hub is in Amsterdam, grounded dozens of flights to and from the UK on Friday. Flight cancellations continued on Saturday, with at least 40 flights cancelled. These include links from Aberdeen, Birmingham (two), Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heathrow (two), Humberside (three), Leeds Bradford (two), London City, Manchester (two), Newcastle (two), Norwich (two) and Teesside.
EasyJet has suspended 20 flights between the UK and Amsterdam on Saturday, including flights to and from Bristol (twice), Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick (twice), Luton, Manchester, Southend and Stansted.
British Airways has canceled flights to and from Heathrow and London City Airport.
Aviation analysts at Cirium report that 42,046 flights are expected to depart from UK airports during the 17-day festive period from December 19 to January 4, with a total of 7.8 million seats. On average, there are more than 100 departures per hour and the number of seats is nearly 20,000.
Compared with the 2024 holiday period, the number of departure flights has increased by 2%, and the number of available departure seats has increased by 4% year-on-year.
Many airports are expecting a surge in passenger numbers on Sunday, January 4.
London heathrow airport The largest number of flights, with one in five departing from the UK’s busiest hub. Birmingham and Manchester Airports are expected to have their busiest festive season yet.
The top destinations at many airports are:
- Alicante
- amsterdam
- Dubai
- dublin
- Geneva
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
- Tenerife
rail
The last weekend of the festive season saw many travelers diverted to other routes as Network Rail lines closed and bad weather caused disruption. Britain’s northernmost line connecting Inverness to Wick and Thurso has been blocked.
More broadly, Network Rail said: “In very cold weather, snow and ice can accumulate on track choke points, the equipment that allows trains to move between tracks. Ice can cover the third electrified rail and overhead cables, preventing trains from drawing the power they need to run and stranding them. Icicles on tunnels, bridges and other structures can also damage trains and overhead cables.”
widely network rail Engineering work is ongoing. Some key stations and lines are closed, putting pressure on other lines.
The West Coast Main Line, which connects London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, northern Wales and southern Scotland, will remain closed on key sections from Milton Keynes and Rugby until January 4 inclusive.
A key junction in Hanslop, south of Rugby, is being replaced. Rail replacement bus services will operate. There will also be pressure on the Chiltern Railway from London Marylebone to Birmingham, the East Coast Main Line from London’s King’s Cross station north and the East Midlands Line from London St Pancras.
Further north, the West Coast Main Line is Cumbria closed Enables Network Rail to replace an aging bridge on the M6 ​​motorway. The line will not reopen until January 15th. Provided by Avanti West Coast Take a scenic train diversion along England’s most beautiful routeSettle and Carlisle Railway.
The line from Carlisle to Lockerbie will also be closed until January 6 with rail replacement buses.
Passengers between Scotland and London are urged to use the East Coast Main Line from Edinburgh to London King’s Cross.
London’s Liverpool Street station, the UK’s busiest, has reopened after eight days of engineering work.
road
Over the next two weekends, Cumbria’s M6 motorway will be closed to motorists between junctions 39 and 40 from 8pm on Friday, and reopen at 5am on Monday – the same closure pattern as between January 9 and 12.
Additionally, the M27 in Hampshire will be closed between junctions 9 and 11 until 4am on January 4.
Traffic will increase over the weekend until work resumes on Monday 5 January. Some potential key locations for congestion are:
- M25, especially between M4 heathrow airport and the M1, and near Bluewater in Kent
- M4 to Cardiff from the M5 junction near Bristol
- The M5 lies south of Bristol and is also close to the M6 ​​junction in the West Midlands
- The M6 ​​runs from the M42 junction through the West Midlands to Wolverhampton
- Around the M60 Manchester, near Trafford Center and between junction 7 (Altrincham) and the M62
ferry
Caledonian MacBrayne ferries in the west of Scotland are suspended from Saturday 3 January until the first weekend of 2026 due to bad weather. Canceled flights on Friday include all ferries between Ullapool and Stornoway (Lewes), and some services between Ardrossan and Brodick (Arran).
Sailing between Dover, Calais and Dunkirk is normal. Dover Port authorities are urging drivers not to arrive more than two hours before scheduled departure time.
Unlike air, there is no penalty for missing your ferry due to congestion at Dover; you can simply rebook for free. “If you miss your ferry, don’t worry,” the port told motorists. “You will be placed on the next available flight.”
This article is always updated with the latest information.
