Bank holiday weekend looks like being a washout
The bank holiday weekend looks like it might be a washout, with heavy showers, British Airways strikes, engineering works on railways and congestion on the roads, hampering many people’s plans for a weekend away.
The forecast for the next few days from the Met Office is for unsettled weather, and although the first of three scheduled BA strikes has now come to an end, the second is just about to start. If conciliation talks do not find a solution to the airline’s ongoing trade union dispute, then many passengers face continued disruption.
Acas has reportedly been in contact with both BA and Unite, but even if an agreement is reached immediately, tens of thousands of passengers face will still face flight cancellations. During the last week of industrial action, BA claims to have flown around 70 per cent of all passengers. During next week’s strikes, the airline says it will lay on more planes, and aims to accommodate at least 75 per cent of those who have tickets.
It is not just in the air that Brits are facing delays. Trafficmaster data manager, Graham Smith, said that the roads were far busier on Saturday than anyone had expected, even for a bank holiday. He added that the wet weather was not helping the congestion situation.
Those travelling by rail also face delays, with an estimated 300 separate sets of engineering works scheduled on the country’s railways over the long weekend. The good news is that temperatures are set to remain high, and by the end of the week a band of high pressure should bring clearer skies.