Christmas travel disruptions: All of the UK airport and train chaos over the festive period and New Years - everything you need to know

Warnings have already been issued over planned railway works, leaving passengers with longer journeys and limited services during the holiday season and the days in between. While many people settle down to celebrate Christmas, engineers will be out and about working on the tracks during the holidays to minimise disruption to commuters.

Here are some of the changes to rail travel:

• Amended service between Preston and Carlisle between December 31 and January 15 due to a bridge replacement over the M6
• Rail replacement buses between Carlisle and Lockerbie between January 1 and January 7 while new signalling is installed
• Amended schedule between Leeds and York between December 27 and January 2
• No trains between Cambridge, Cambridge North, Bury St Edmunds and Stansted Airport between December 27 and January 4 due to new signalling system tests in the area

Listed below are all of the other travel warnings you need to know for the Christmas period.

London Liverpool Street

The UK’s busiest station will be closed between December 27 and January 1, meaning there are no trains to and from the station. The good news is that the Elizabeth line and Tube will run as scheduled because they have their own platform.

Greater Anglia and London Overground trains are affected because of engineering works in the Bishopsgate tunnel and refurbishment works to the station roof, and will terminate at Stratford and London Field respectively.

London Waterloo station

London Waterloo and Vauxhall stations will have no trains running on Saturday and Sunday after Christmas. Instead, trains will start and terminate at Clapham Junction or other stations, so it is worth checking before travelling.

Waterloo will also have a limited train service between Monday, December 29 and Friday, January 2, because of track and points renewal works.

London Euston

Passengers face slower journeys than usual when buses replace trains on the West Coast Main Line between Saturday, December 27 and Sunday, January 4, between Milton Keynes Central and Rugby and Northampton.

This is the route used by trains to and from Euston. Trips from the station to the Midlands, the North West like Manchester and Liverpool, and Scotland will be ‘significantly disrupted,’ National Rail warned.

London Underground

TfL services like the Tube, Overground, Elizabeth line and buses will not run on Christmas Day and services will wrap up early on Wednesday. Some limited services are running on Boxing Day on a Sunday service timetable. Routes like the Elizabeth line will be closed.

There is no Night Tube or Night Overground service on Boxing Day, Friday December 26. Those driving in central London over Christmas and New Year could save £15 a day as the Congestion Charge will not apply between Thursday, December 25 and Thursday, January 1. Meanwhile, the ULEZ charge doesn’t apply on Christmas Day. Driving through Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels will be free on Christmas Day only, but the fees apply at all other times.

Luton Airport strikes

Check-in and baggage handling staff are due to walk out. Dozens of flights will be affected over the strike days happening between December 19 to December 21, and again on December 26 until December 28.

The planned strike action affects easyJet staff outsourced to DHL, who work at the check-in desks and as baggage handlers on routes to Spain, Germany, Italy and Czechia from Luton. Around 200 workers will strike during the peak travel season over a pay row, Unite said.

Heathrow Airport

More than 130 cabin crew working for Scandinavian Airlines Services (SAS) based at Heathrow have decided to walk out after disagreement over a pay offer. The strike could put flights to and from Scandinavia under threat, Unite warned. SAS cabin crew at Heathrow will walk out on December 22, 23, 24 and 26.