Christmas travel updates: Eurostar resumes as busiest day for road and rail travel expected

Road congestion is likely to peak on Friday – the last working day before Christmas Day – as drivers embarking on leisure trips competed for road space with commuters and business traffic.

The RAC estimated 13.5 million leisure journeys by car would take place across the UK between Friday and Sunday, up 20 per cent on the three days before Christmas Day last year.

Motorists were being advised to travel before 11am or after 6pm if possible to reduce the chance of being stuck in long queues.

Likely traffic hotspots on the M25 identified by transport analysis company Inrix include clockwise between junction 7 (for the M23/Gatwick Airport) and junction 16 (for the M40/Birmingham), and anti-clockwise between junction 17 (Rickmansworth) and junction 12 (for the M3).

Other motorway stretches expected to see long queues included the M1 north from Woburn, Bedfordshire, to Daventry, Northamptonshire, and the M6 south from Wigan, Greater Manchester, to Stafford, Staffordshire.

On Britain’s railways, Friday and Saturday are expected to be the busiest days of the festive season – with extra pressure on the key London terminals of Paddington and King’s Cross. Both intercity stations will be closed on Christmas Eve due to engineering work.

Tens of thousands of passengers on both the East Coast and West Coast main lines had their trains cancelled on Thursday due to the effects of Storm Pia and broken-down trains.

Dozens of trains in and out of London Euston and King’s Cross were axed.

The main East Coast rail firm, LNER, said: “We sincerely apologise for the impact to travel plans ahead of the festive period, due to the strong winds that affected LNER services on Thursday 21 December.”

Tickets from cancelled trains on Thursday can be used on any LNER services on Friday.

All peak ticket restrictions have been lifted by Avanti West Coast until Sunday 7 January, allowing passengers to travel using cheaper off-peak fares.

Tens of thousands of travellers have woken up far from where they wanted to be today, after a sudden strike closed the Channel Tunnel for most of the day.

An estimated 25,000 passengers booked on Eurostar on Thursday found their cross-Channel trains cancelled.

Thirty trains connecting London with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were axed when the tunnel was closed by a walk-out by French staff.

Eurostar trains have now resumed. The rail firm said: “We’ve been informed the strike by Eurotunnel staff is now over. We will run a normal timetable to/from London on 22 December 2023.

“We’re also running additional trains to enable as many passengers as possible to rebook their journey before Christmas.

“We’re sorry that we were unable to provide our usual service on 21 December 2023 due to circumstances outside of our control.”

Car-carrying shuttles between Folkestone and Calais resumed on Thursday evening after the industrial action was lifted.

A spokesperson for Eurotunnel said: “Eurotunnel management and trade union representatives have reached an agreement at the end of a day marked by strike action which led to the closure of the terminals and the interruption of services since midday.

“Eurotunnel welcomes this agreement and reiterates its apologies to all LeShuttle customers as well as Eurostar passengers and rail freight operators whose traffic has been impacted by this strike.”

Storm Pia has unleashed Christmas travel chaos as major train line closures caused mass cancellations across the UK and flights were grounded by high winds – while a sudden French strike also forced the Eurotunnel to close.

There were chaotic scenes at London Euston and Kings Cross as damage to overhead wires between Watford and Milton Keynes disrupted the main route to Manchester, while a fallen tree near Doncaster also knocked out travel on the East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh.

At Heathrow Airport, British Airways cancelled dozens of flights between domestic and international destinations in Europe and the United States, while a shock French strike at the Eurotunnel left tens of thousands of passengers on 30 Eurostar trains from London, Paris and Brussels unable to travel.

Here is the rundown on how Storm Pia hit the UK on Thursday:

The Met Office has issued two further weather warnings.

The first came into force in Shetland at 3pm on Thursday, while a second larger warning will take effect at 9pm on Friday, lasting through until midday on Saturday.

The Met Office warns to expect:

• Probably some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths
• Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces
• Some roads likely to be affected with longer journey times by road and bus services

Away from mountainous sites, the top wind speeds recorded by the Met Office today were all around the 80mph mark, in Scotland and northern England.

Storm Pia, which was named by the Danish Met Institute, is gradually moving towards mainland Europe where its impacts are expected to be more severe, the Met Office said in a statement.

The winds are due to ease for many across the UK on Thursday afternoon with wet weather likely to persist in western areas.

The government has been urged to be “ambitious” in seeking new wind farms for the UK after turbines generated a record amount of energy during Storm Pia today.

Dan McGrail, the chief executive of trade body RenewableUK urged ministers to set their sights high when trying to get renewable energy providers to bid in next year’s auction to build new wind farms.

“Setting a new wind energy record is a great achievement to celebrate during this festive period,” he said. “Wind power is taking centre stage in our modern clean energy mix, strengthening our energy security and keeping Britain powered up at the coldest, darkest time of the year.

“In the new year, the renewable energy industry will be working closely with the Government to ensure that we maximise investment in new projects, most critically through the next auction for new clean energy projects, to lower everyone’s energy bills and get us to net zero as fast as possible.

“We’re calling for ministers to be ambitious when they set out new parameters in March for next summer’s auction, which we hope will secure a record amount of new renewable energy capacity and boost jobs in the sector.”

The UK’s wind turbines generated a record amount of electricity on Thursday morning, with 21.8 gigawatts in half an hour, supplying 56 per cent of all the power used from the grid.

It beats the previous 21.6 GW record which was set in January this year.

The highest ever proportion of electricity generated by wind power was 69 per cent in November this year.