Motorists and train passengers face significant delays this Christmas Eve due to accidents and service disruptions across the UK and US
Oxfordshire: It’s a bit of a mess out there for Christmas Eve travelers. An overturned lorry is causing chaos on the M40, and it’s not pretty. The lorry is teetering on the edge of the motorway, which led to a closure between Junction 8a and Junction 6.
Drivers were stuck for about 45 minutes, but thankfully, the road has reopened now. The crash happened on Tuesday, and the lorry was left hanging over a footpath. They’ll need to fix a safety barrier too.
Craig Sowden from National Highways said they had to close the road for safety reasons. He thanked drivers for their patience and advised everyone to allow extra time for their journeys.
Meanwhile, over in Cambridgeshire, the A14 is also closed due to a serious collision. Police and fire crews are on the scene, and it looks like that closure will last for several hours while they investigate.
In London, rail passengers are having a tough time too. The Piccadilly Line and the Lioness Line are part-suspended, and by 9 PM, there was still no service between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge. Apparently, leaf fall caused some damage to the trains.
South Western Rail is also warning of delays between London Waterloo and Guildford due to engineering works. And if you’re traveling from Rugby to London, expect a 30-minute detour because of a faulty train.
Things aren’t much better in the US, where all American Airlines flights were grounded due to a technical issue. The airline is working on fixing it, but no official word has come out yet.
With millions trying to travel for Christmas, the US Transportation Security Administration is expecting to screen around 40 million passengers through the holidays. It’s definitely a busy time for everyone!