Train strikes – live: Christmas Eve travel disruption as drivers told ‘avoid roads until 7pm’

The UK is set to become inundated with strikes across multiple sectors as we ring in the new year.

Industrial action is planned for January by nurses, ambulance drivers, and rail workers over pay disputes with the government.

Commuters will be impacted by rail strikes by both the RMT union ASLEF union, with the health sector hit by action by the Unison union and the Royal College of Nursing.

This video outlines which strikes will be taking place in January, and when exactly we will be impacted by them.

Watch the video here:

Andy Burnham said he wants a London-style integrated transport system for Greater Manchester as he announced the award of the first new bus franchises in the region.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester said discussions were on-going with government as part of a further deal on devolution, more powers transferred from Whitehall to regions, about integrating overland train services with bus, trams and bikes.

It would create a "tap in tap out" system for any of the 2.5 million people in the Greater Manchester region using public transport.

Full story:

A Christmas Day snow warning has been issued for large parts of Scotland, with up to 10cm forecast for higher ground as gale force winds bring the risk of drifting and blizzards.

Frequent blustery snow showers are likely to cause some travel disruption to higher routes, the Met Office said in a yellow weather warning on Friday.

My colleague Alastair Jamieson reports:

Flooding on the M25 is ruining the Christmas getaway for thousands of people, as congestion worsens across the UK.

National Highways said a 10-mile queue built up due to the M25 being closed from junction 11 (Woking) to junction 12 (the M3) while standing water is cleared.

Two out of four lanes were later reopened.

Many drivers are battling a band of heavy rain which is moving north from southern England and Wales to southern Scotland and Northern Ireland throughout the day.

Junction four of the M20 westbound in Kent was closed for several hours on Friday morning after a serious crash on Thursday.

Vehicles were being diverted on to exit and entry slip roads, causing three miles of congestion and delays of at least 45 minutes.

The AA reported “severe congestion” on several motorway stretches on Friday, and said industrial action on the railways has added to the number of vehicles on the roads.

Full report:

“Do not travel unless your journey is essential”: that is the warning from the rail industry to people hoping to catch a train on Christmas Eve, ahead of the next RMT national strike by Network Rail staff beginning at 6pm on 24 December, Simon Calder, our travel correspondent, reports.

On East Midlands Railways’ main line linking London with Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield, the last northbound train for four days will depart at 7.35pm this evening. A separate strike by members of the Unite union means all later trains are cancelled, along with the entire schedule on Christmas Eve.

Elsewhere, train operators are racing to get rolling stock and staff back to depots before the walk-out begins. Last trains from many locations are in the morning, with all services ending by mid-afternoon.

The strike has wiped out all the limited Boxing Day services, including all 43 planned Eurostar services linking London with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

When the RMT strike ends at 6am on Tuesday 27 December. Services will slowly resume, though key operators will continue to run a sharply reduced schedule. Last trains on South Western Railway from the UK’s busiest station, London Waterloo, are at around 9.30pm until the second week of January.

No trains will run at all to and from London Liverpool Street due to planned engineering works through to the New Year – when national rail strikes resume on 3 January.

Unprecedented travel chaos across the country could continue for at least another six months unless the government makes workers an improved pay offer, unions have warned.

Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS union, which represents striking Border Force staff, also predicted there would be a “huge escalation” in other industrial action next month unless ministers enter into negotiations.

The rail dispute will also continue in the new year unless ministers act, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said.

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Rail workers have already walked out a number of times this year and more strikes are planned for next year.

Here, my colleague Joe Sommerlad looks specifically at the dates when these strikes will take place.

There is not much by way of precedent for how the right-wing mob behave in the years after the tyres have exploded but the car’s not come to a stop, writes Tom Peck.

Read Tom’s full piece here:

As we’ve been reporting, a number of public sector organisations are striking in a row over pay and conditions.

Border Force and postal workers walked out today and join nurses and rail workers in withdrawing their labour.

More strikes are planned for the remainder of the month.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad takes a look at who is striking and when:

The GMB union has called off a strike of ambulance workers on 28 December so the public can “enjoy Christmas without the additional anxiety”.

They have instead announced a new strike on 11 January, the same day that ambulance workers who are members of the Unison union will also stage a walkout.

My colleague Holly Bancroft has the story: