Foggy conditions across UK threaten to cause disruption on roads and rail

Fog and mist is expected to blanket much of the UK tonight and tomorrow morning.

The Met Office has said the weather will develop mostly across ‘central, southern and southeastern parts’.

It’s expected to be slow to lift over the course of the morning.

This can pose a danger to motorists who must drive with reduced visibility, and there is potential for disruption on the railways if the fog is particularly stubborn.

The number of British tourists taking legal action after being struck down with sickness during trips to Cape Verde has risen to 1,100.

Lawyers have taken on another 200 clients to represent 1,107 people who suffered with serious gastric illness at luxury hotels in the last three years.

Hundreds of people were hospitalised and say their five-star holidays turned into ‘trips from hell’.

The new group to seek legal action includes 40 tourists who fell ill during and following stays at Riu Palace Santa Maria in Sal, Cape Verde, this year, the Express reports.

A brand new railway line linking Newcastle and Ashington is set to open in December.

The new line, coupled with the Tyne and Wear Metro receiving its first new trains in 40 years, provides a big boost to public transport in Northumberland.

Trains will run from Newcastle and stop at six former mining towns which haven’t had passenger services stop there for decades.

Stops include the coastal town of Blyth, market town Morpeth, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Guardian reports.

No need to panic if you’re anywhere near the Silvertown Tunnel and spotted the fire service there.

The London Fire Brigade is ‘conducting an exercise with partners to test processes within the tunnels, ensuring we’re ready to protect Londoners’.

The urgent repairs to a bridge between Moorthorpe and Pontefract Baghill are causing bigger problems than originally expected.

The disruption is now set to last until the end of the day.

Rail replacement buses have been put in place between Moorthorpe and York in both directions.

Elwyn Vaughan, Plaid Cymru councillor for Glantwymyn, said the crash was ‘a shock and a surprise’.

He went on: ‘It is a single track line, so that’s unusual in many contexts, but there are dedicated passing places.

‘The norm would be one train parks there, and the other passes. The fundamental question is, why that didn’t happen last night?

‘There are a couple of theories. One element is there’s a new digital system to stop trains. So did that work, were there any issues with that?

‘And the other one is, of course, leaves on the line, because there’s a steep incline here.

‘This is what’s called Talerddig cutting. There’s a deep cut into the rock face here and a steady incline, so once a train starts sliding it would continue to slide towards the bottom.’

TfL and London borough councils are lifting some restrictions on where e-scooters can and can’t be driven to try and make them more competitive.

It’s also hoped this will reduce injuries caused when they suddenly stop working.

The restrictions are enforced using geofencing technology, which causes the scooter’s engine to cut out once it has entered a banned zone.

But the suddenness with which the scooters stop when they enter these areas – known as ‘clipping’ – can cause injuries.

TfL told the Daily Telegraph it has ‘reduced the number of go slow and no go areas across the trial area, to improve the experience for riders without impacting those not using the service’.

In areas not covered by ‘no go’ or ‘go slow’ zones, the scooters are limited by TfL to driving at a maximum speed of 12.5mph, despite the government setting a limit nationally of 15.5mph.

Following an earlier incident taken care of by the emergency services, all lines have reopened between Doncaster and Gainsborough Lea Road.

Trains are now able to run as normal between Doncaster and Lincoln Central again.

A lorry transporting tonnes of food waste has crashed on a roundabout and spilled fish guts all over the road.

The crash happened at 4am today on the A361 at Bolham roundabout in Tiverton, and the lorry driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services have now left the scene but the local council are still cleaning up the huge mess.

Devon and Cornwall Police said: ‘Police were called to reports of an overturned lorry that had shed its load of food waste.

‘Emergency services attended the scene. The male lorry driver has been taken to hospital with minor injuries.

‘Local road closures have been put in place and are likely to remain so for some time while efforts are ongoing to clear up the spillage.

‘Drivers are advised to avoid the area.’

Several railway services are facing disruption into the evening rush hour after a person was killed on the railway.

Grand Central, Hull Trains, LNER, Lumo, Northern and TransPennine Express services are all affected as fewer trains are able to run on these lines.

Cancellations and delays are expected to last until 4pm.

These are the affected routes:

• between Sunderland / Bradford Interchange and London Kings Cross
• between Beverley / Hull and London Kings Cross
• between Aberdeen / Stirling / Glasgow Central / Edinburgh / Harrogate / Leeds / York and London Kings Cross
• between Edinburgh and London Kings Cross
• through Doncaster
• through Doncaster

This is different to another emergency incident between Doncaster and Gainsborough Lea Road – you can scroll down to find out more about that one.

The A5036 is closed in both directions between the A5038 and B5207 near Bootle due to a police incident.

Traffic on approach is being diverted.

Drivers are being asked to plan ahead before setting off.

A fault on a train between Romford and Upminster means services have been suspended between those two stations.

It’s affecting London Overground services and means trains will be cancelled.

Northern services which run between Sheffield and York via Pontefract Baghill are being disrupted due to urgent repairs to a bridge between Moorthorpe and Pontefract Baghill.

All trains running via Pontefract will be cancelled, and the disruption is expect to continue until 2pm.

Sheffield to Leeds via Moorthorpe services are not affected by this issue.

Ticket restrictions have been lifted during this disruption.

The following rail replacement transport, operated by York Pullman, is running between Moorthorpe and York:

• 13:00 Moorthorpe – York
• 13:20 York – Moorthorpe
• 17:10 Moorthorpe – York
• 17:25 York – Moorthorpe

The southbound carriageway of the A12 has now reopened after being closed to allow the air ambulance to land.

However the road is still closed northbound after a serious collision.

Drivers are facing hour-long delays on top of their usual journey time.

Following a person being hit by a train between Doncaster and Gainsborough Lea Road, all lines between Doncaster and Lincoln Central have been blocked.

Rail replacement buses will now be used between the two stations until at least 2pm, as the lines have been closed to allow emergency services to deal with the incident.

Trains will start from Lincoln Central and trains from Peterborough will terminate at Lincoln Central.

A National Rail spokesperson said: ‘It is expected the line will reopen in the next three hours.

‘As soon as the line is open again, the priority will be to get trains running to their advertised times again.

‘We expect that the advertised timetable to resume on the affected routes by 2pm.’

The A12 is blocked after a crash on the northbound carriageway between junction 23 for Kelvedon and 24 for Feering.

The southbound carriageway has also been temporarily held to allow for the air ambulance to land.

Emergency services including Essex Police are on the scene.

National Highways have provided the following diversion route:

• Exit the A12 at J23 and follow the B1024 through Kelvedon
• Re-join the A12 at J24

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said she was ‘incredibly sorry’ to hear about the train crash in Wales.

She said: ‘I’m incredibly sorry to hear one man has died and many others were injured in the train crash in Powys.

‘My thoughts are with all of those involved, and their families.

‘I also want to thank the emergency services who responded so quickly last night and remain on the scene.

‘Safety on our railways is my absolute priority and we are working at pace with Transport for Wales and Network Rail to understand what happened and how we can better prevent it going forward.’

The London Overground has been suspended between Watford Junction and Watford High Street while TfL fixes a signal failure at Watford Junction.

There is good service on the rest of the line.

Elsewhere on the Tube, there are minor delays on the Bakerloo line between Stonebridge Park and Harrow & Wealdstone due to a Newtwork Rail signal failure at Watford Junction.

The rest of the London Underground network, as well as the rest of the Bakerloo line, are running well.

Commuters on the London Underground won’t have been surprised to hear the Victoria line is the loudest in the capital.

But the BBC now reports that the volume is actually louder than at a gig.

Measuring noise levels on an app, the Victoria line peaked at 112.3 decibels (dB), compared to concerts which have a sound level of 110dB. Chainsaws operate at about 120dB.

TfL has had to issue ear defenders to train drivers – but what are passengers to do?

The second noisiest bit of track on the Victoria line is between Vauxhall and Stockwell, and the Aslef union blames a reduction in the rail grinding budget which should reduce noise.

All East Midlands Railway routes running between Doncaster and Lincoln Central have been blocked after a person was hit by a train.

Services running between the two stations will be cancelled, and the disruption is set to last until 11.30am.