UK rail transport to be disrupted during Easter weekend

Britons looking to travel by train during the Easter holiday weekend are being warned to expect delays and a series of service disruptions. The problems are likely to be caused by high winds and the possibility of significant snowfall in parts of the UK starting Saturday morning, as well as public works projects on certain routes. Both the West and East-cost mainline rail service is expected to be disrupted due to maintenance work that has been on-going since early January. A total of 30 different railway projects will be worked on over the course of the weekend, with around 6,000 workers expected to take part. BBC is reporting that due to both the unfavourable weather conditions, as well as these repairs, some of Britain’s most frequented lines now only have a single train running each hour. Additionally, ferries that depart from Dover are also said to be experiencing major delays, due to the windy conditions.

Meteorologists in Britain predict that snow in Scotland is likely on Good Friday and may continue into Saturday as well. Accumulations of up to 10cm are expected in northern parts of the UK, while parts of eastern and northern England are likely to get closer to around 2cm. The weather forecast calls for both colder than usual weather during the holiday weekend—with lows dipping just below the freezing mark in the north and northwest—as well as high winds, which may make driving conditions on certain bridges and overpasses dangerous. Authorities in Dover have already indicated that dozens of passengers were not able to catch their scheduled ferries due to high winds and the line-up at the eastern dock extended to three miles by early this afternoon.