Monday travel has seen disruption on rail, motorways and at Heathrow Airport – and there could be more after Met Office issued a yellow weather warning.
The return to school and work is off to an eventful start as the forecaster warned of heavy showers and thunderstorms, with central and northern parts of the UK set for up to 80mm of rain.
Some areas with flooding and lightning strikes could see bus and train cancellations and delays, while spray and sudden flooding could wreak havoc on roads until midnight.
Elsewhere, some flights have been cancelled at Heathrow Airport today, including by British Airways. It comes as industrial action by hundreds of Border Force staff entered its third day.
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Heathrow Border Force strike gets underway
List of flights cancelled at Heathrow
Crash on M25 causes long delays
Broken rail causes major Kings Cross disruption
Yellow weather warning for thunderstorms
Read all about the Met Office thunderstorm warning covering most of the UK below.
Drivers abandon cars and play football on motorway
The M6 turned into a dangerous play area after drivers poured out of their cars during a traffic jam.
Some were seen playing football while others abandoned their vehicles to walk to a service station.
Read more below about the sassy police response.
Overturned trailer wreaks havoc on the M5
Traffic is queueing on the M5 near Bristol Filton Airport after an incident involving an overturned trailer.
Two out of three lanes have been blocked southbound between junction J17 (Cribbs Causeway) and J18 (Avonmouth).
There are around five miles of tailback, meaning journeys are taking 45 minutes longer than usual.
Recap of major disruption on trains
The summer holidays have come to an end with a string of disruptions across the rail network.
Here is a recap of what’s going on and when the issues are expected to be solved.
Great Northern and Thameslink trains are delayed by up to an hour, cancelled or revised until the end of the day due to a broken railway track at Hatfield.
Services between Peterborough and London Kings Cross may be delayed by up to 30 minutes, National Rail warned.
Here are the affected routes.
- Great Northern between London Kings Cross and Cambridge, and also between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City / Stevenage
- Thameslink between Brighton and Cambridge, and also between London Kings Cross and Peterborough
- Grand Central between Sunderland / Bradford Interchange and London Kings Cross
- Hull Trains between Beverley / Hull and London Kings Cross
- LNER between Edinburgh / Newcastle / York / Leeds and London Kings Cross
- Lumo between Edinburgh and London Kings Cross
Lines between the stations have closed due to an emergency incident, meaning trains may be cancelled or revised.
Major disruption is expected until 1pm.
Here are the affected services.
- Southeastern between London St Pancras International and Faversham / Ramsgate / Dover Priory, and also between London Victoria / London Charing Cross and Gravesend
- Thameslink between Luton and Rainham
Passengers can check available travel options on National Rail here.
Heathrow Border Force strike gets underway
Hundreds of Border Force officers are on strike at Heathrow Airport.
The four-day industrial action started on Saturday after a long-running dispute over new shift rosters the union has labelled inflexible.
Around 650 members of the Public and Commercial Services union agreed on the strike from Saturday until Tuesday at the UK’s busiest airport.
The majority of the Heathrow Border Force staff suffer from stress at work, the union said citing its research, saying four in five are affected.
It said more than one in four have taken time off due to stress or related mental health reason since the new shift roster was introduced in April.
List of flights cancelled at Heathrow
The Monday travel is off to a sticky start across the rail network, roads and airports after delays and cancellations.
Some flights have been axed at Heathrow Airport today, including on British Airways.
Here are all the flights listed as cancelled on the Heathrow departure board.
British Airways BA752 at 8.40am to Basel
American Airlines AA051 at 8.40am to Dallas Forth Worth
British Airways BA1306 at 9am to Aberdeen
American Airlines AA101 at 10.05am to New York City
Air India AI128 12.30pm to Mumbai
British Airways BA816 at 12.50pm to Copenhagen
British Airways BA011 at 7.35pm to Singapore
Crash on M25 causes long delays
Drivers were warned of more than an hour long delays on the M25 near Brentwood after a crash on the motorway.
It happened anticlockwise between junctions J29 (Romford) and J29 (Brentwood) at rush hour.
Two out of four lanes have been closed for recovery, National Highways said.
It comes as children head back to school today after the summer holidays.
Broken rail causes major Kings Cross disruption
Summer is officially over, and train passengers have been given an early dose of delays and cancellations to celebrate.
A broken track near Hatfield is disrupting services to and from London’s Kings Cross station.
This is affecting Great Northern, Thameslink and Grand Central services, with many trains stopping and starting at Peterborough instead.
It is also affecting trains between Finsbury Park and Stevenage, and between Brighton and Cambridge.
So if you’re lucky enough to get on a train that’s not delayed, you still face hour-long delays.
Urgent track repairs are ongoing, but this disruption is expected to last until the end of today.
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