UK travel trying to cut backlog

After what has been one of the worst weeks for Christmas travel in the UK there is some light at the end of the tunnel as the backlog is slowly cleared. Queues for the Eurostar services from London St Pancras did stretch out into the cold streets on Wednesday as a last minute rush of people hoping to get away turned the terminal into a crowded mass of bodies.

The week was full of promise of white snowing falling on our doorsteps and we opened the doors to pick the chilled milk from the doorstep that miraculously appears during the night. It was all set for a wonderful time, but the weather men did warn us of the freezing conditions that could hamper the Christmas getaway. Airports had to shut down as conditions were deemed to dangerous to attempt a take-off. Passengers were left stranded at Luton and slept on the floor. Eurostar travellers were stuck in the tunnel for up to five hours as bad weather short electric circuits. The roads were some of the worst seen in a few years and the general advice was to stay at home except for essential travel.

Now as the week has gone on it appears that the UK is fixing the problem travel, albeit a little late for some. Fewer flights are being cancelled due to weather conditions and the Eurostar will have almost cleared their backlog of passengers that built up over the weekend. It has also been a busy time for the Automobile Association as they have dealt with 116,000 call-outs since 16th December, their busiest time in the last 10 years.