Strong winds disrupt travel as Christmas getaway continues

Strong winds have caused some travel disruption in parts of the UK as millions of people travel ahead of Christmas.

Yellow weather warnings for wind are in place for Scotland, and much of Northern Ireland and northern England.

A gust of 82mph has been recorded in South Uist on the Western Isles, with winds of 50-60mph predicted further south.

The weather has led to the cancellation of some ferry services, road closures and trains have been impacted.

The travel disruption comes as motoring experts are predicting this will be the busiest weekend of travel of the year, with the RAC warning it could be a "pretty exhausting experience" and urging drivers to "be patient".

A yellow warning came into force at 07:00 GMT on Saturday and will last until 21:00 GMT on Sunday for Scotland, North West and North East England, and parts of North Wales and Northern Ireland.

Westerly winds are forecast to pick up over Saturday, with the area covered by the warning widening on Sunday to take in South West England, Derbyshire, Hampshire, parts of the West Midlands and Yorkshire, and all of Wales and Northern Ireland.

"Dangerous coastal conditions can be expected too, with large waves an additional hazard," the Met Office added.

Transport Scotland said road, rail, air and ferry services are "all likely to be affected by the conditions" with cancellations and restrictions on bridges possible.

By midday, CalMac, which runs ferries operating off Scotland's west coast, said that 21 of its routes were cancelled for the day, while other services were facing disruption.

Northlink Ferries, which runs services between Aberdeen and the Orkney and Shetland isles, also reported disruption.

It said "adverse weather conditions" meant a sailing between Kirkwall on Orkney and Lerwick in the Shetland Isles was cancelled, along with sailings between Aberdeen and Lerwick, which were scheduled for Saturday evening.

ScotRail said there are currently speed restrictions in place across some routes, causing delays of up to 30 minutes or timetable revisions.

P&O Ferries announced on X that several sailings between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan on the Scottish west coast on Sunday had been cancelled.

Stena Line also said disruption is expected with sailings between Belfast and Cairnryan cancelled late on Saturday and into Sunday.

Meanwhile Heathrow Airport said that a "small number of flights have been cancelled on Saturday" due to "strong winds and airspace restrictions".

On the roads, National Highways said that the M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire is closed in both directions between J1 (Aust) and J2 (Chepstow) due to strong winds.

Road users were advised to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge as an alternative route.

The A66 in North Yorkshire and Cumbria has also been closed in parts due to strong winds. The westbound carriageway is closed between the A67 (Bowes) and the A685 (Brough), while the eastbound carriageway is closed between the A685 (Brough) and the A1M (Scotch Corner), National Highways said.

Earlier on Saturday, RAC spokesman Rod Dennis warned motorists about driving conditions: "With the weekend bringing a mix of strong winds along with heavy, and in some places wintry, showers, it's going to make many of the estimated seven million getaway trips by car a pretty exhausting experience."

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Dennis said he expected traffic to be heaviest on Saturday and Christmas Eve.

On Saturday, roads are expected to be busiest between 11:00 GMT and 16:00 to 18:00, and he urged drivers to "be patient".

"These are journeys that matter to us this time of year, don't expect to get there the minute your sat-nav says you will. Allow yourself a bit of time to make it easy and get there safely."

Nearly 14 million drivers are expected to take to the roads during the weekend - a new record, according to the RAC.

It predicts that congestion hotspots could include:

• Both directions of the M1 to Gatwick via the M25 and the M23
• Liverpool to Chester on the M53
• Oxford to the south coast via the A34 and the M3
• The M25 to the south coast along the M3
• The Taunton to Almondsbury Interchange in Bristol heading down the M5.

The winds are expected to ease by Monday, but it is "absolutely not" looking like a white Christmas, according to Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin.

Instead, the UK will see "a grey Christmas" which "is going to be very, very mild", he said, with cloud and rain set to move in.

Away from the roads, the first of the rail closures taking place over the festive period began on Saturday, with a section of the Midland Main line will closed between London St Pancras and Bedford until 29 December as projects costing £29m are completed. This will affect travel to Luton Airport.

• What will the weather be like for the week ahead?

Engineering works will also impact other stations over Christmas, including Paddington and Liverpool Street in London, as well as in the Cambridge and Crewe areas.

Asked why so many trains are cancelled over Christmas for work to take place, at a time when people might be more likely to make leisure journeys and use trains if available, Robert Nisbet, the director of nations and regions at the Rail Delivery Group, which represents National Rail and train operators, said "plenty of thought" goes into closures and the festive period is chosen because "on the whole fewer people travel" then.

"The reliability of services is not where we want it to be across the network, we as an industry hold up our hands up to that... but in many cases it is because of the infrastructure," he told BBC Radio 4's Today.

Because of this, "essential engineering works and upgrades" are required, he said, adding that these are planned "at a time we feel fewer people are travelling and that is around this period.

He continued that the engineering works would improve services and reliability

Meanwhile, the Port of Dover says it is expecting 25,000 cars to pass through it this weekend.