Saturday, December 23, 2017
With millions of visitors heading for Christmas holiday, have suffered long delays and cancellations across the UK travelling on “Frantic Friday”.
Thousands of passengers were left stranded after Bristol Airport runway was closed on Friday morning and more than 50 flights were cancelled.
An Eddie Stobart lorry carrying beer caught fire about 11.30am on Friday leaving motorists stuck in long tailbacks. Although there’s no news of any injury, the jam-packed traffic stretched for more than 11 miles after the incident.
More than 30 trains were cancelled due to shortage in guards on South Western Railway causing travel disruption in the rush hour between Waterloo and the south-west of England. Great Western Railway is urging passengers to complete journeys by Saturday “at the latest” as London Paddington will be closed between Christmas Eve and 27 December.
The combination of the last rush hour before Christmas, last-minute shoppers and online shopping deliveries, as well as millions of people driving for festive visits to family and friends, was expected to clog roads and slow journeys on Friday evening.
Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Colchester, Maidstone and Rochester saw a huge surge in the visitors’ number on Friday afternoon leading traffic congestion and is expected to witness 15% more breakdowns than usual than the other holiday seasons.
Airports, ports and international train stations are exceptionally busy, with more than 4.5 million people heading abroad over Christmas and the New Year.
Tags: Bristol Airport, christmas, England
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
