23/12/2016

Download Subtitles

Transcript

:00:08. > :00:11.It's been dubbed Frantic Friday as people hit the roads,

:00:12. > :00:15.railways and airports to visit family and friends for Christmas.

:00:16. > :00:18.And with the addition of last minute shoppers,

:00:19. > :00:21.the AA were predicting around 12 million cars on the roads

:00:22. > :00:25.But, as well as congestion, Storm Barbara also made herself felt

:00:26. > :00:35.with strong winds causing significant problems.

:00:36. > :00:45.Who would fancy driving from Stoke-on-Trent to

:00:46. > :00:49.Many in Staffordshire chose to let the train

:00:50. > :00:55.I'm going on the way to Hastings to see my

:00:56. > :00:57.I haven't seen them since last Christmas.

:00:58. > :01:04.At Birmingham station, they're expecting 200,000 people to

:01:05. > :01:09.The advice for anyone travelling on the train

:01:10. > :01:12.over this period is, plan your journey well in advance and

:01:13. > :01:18.secondly, on the day of travel, please check before you travel.

:01:19. > :01:20.There are no train services on Christmas Day itself.

:01:21. > :01:23.Network Rail say disruption will be minimal over

:01:24. > :01:28.the holiday but they are warning that on the 27th, services between

:01:29. > :01:32.Rugby and Stafford will be affected by work on the West Coast Mainline.

:01:33. > :01:36.National Express have put on an extra 60,000

:01:37. > :01:37.seats to cope with the

:01:38. > :01:40.festive influx and Christmas Day is no exception.

:01:41. > :01:44.We have nine services leaving from here on Christmas Day.

:01:45. > :01:48.We have staff here to support customers and our drivers as well.

:01:49. > :01:51.We're going to destinations as far away as

:01:52. > :01:54.Glasgow, Edinburgh, Heathrow Airport, London Victoria

:01:55. > :01:56.and Bristol and a number of

:01:57. > :02:00.For those driving themselves, good news

:02:01. > :02:03.over 100 works have been lifted across the Midlands but by

:02:04. > :02:07.mid-morning, the partial closure of the M1 due to a serious accident

:02:08. > :02:12.Fortunately, traffic levels have been much

:02:13. > :02:13.lighter than usual and we'd like

:02:14. > :02:17.to thank motorists for the help in making this getaway much, much more

:02:18. > :02:25.Britain's wintry weather is of no consequence if you are jetting off

:02:26. > :02:30.Birmingham Airport reports a 20% increase in festive

:02:31. > :02:33.flyers and on Christmas Day itself, there will be 14,000 passengers in

:02:34. > :02:40.and out of Birmingham, up an incredible 82% on last year.

:02:41. > :02:42.We've been going for the last 15 years,

:02:43. > :02:47.we've just gone away for Christmas and New Year, probably because of

:02:48. > :02:49.our jobs, it's the best time to have off.

:02:50. > :02:52.Christmas is the time to go to these countries, nice

:02:53. > :02:54.weather, nice beaches, nice people, what can you say?

:02:55. > :03:04.And for the very latest on both the travel and the aftermath

:03:05. > :03:10.of Storm Barbara we can join Louisa Currie.

:03:11. > :03:17.A number of trains have been delayed due to high winds

:03:18. > :03:21.Public transport on the whole has been very busy.

:03:22. > :03:25.The roads seems to be fairing well on the whole -

:03:26. > :03:31.although winds have brought down a number of trees.

:03:32. > :03:35.One family in Northdfield in Birmingham had a lucky escape

:03:36. > :03:41.after this one came down in front of them.

:03:42. > :03:45.There was also quite a serious accident on the M5 earlier -

:03:46. > :03:51.but thankfully no serious casualties there either.

:03:52. > :03:55.Things are widely expected to calm down now, although another spike

:03:56. > :04:14.in travel is expected on Boxing Day morning as people head to the sales.

:04:15. > :04:16.But, while others may have struggled to get away,

:04:17. > :04:19.there was some good news in Coventry with work on the notorious

:04:20. > :04:24.There's been absolute gridlock there on occasions,

:04:25. > :04:29.whilst the junction's been completely re-designed.

:04:30. > :04:32.It's taken major excavation work, spanning three years,

:04:33. > :04:36.and costing more than ?100 million to redesign, Tollbar Island.

:04:37. > :04:40.There have been endless queues and much frustration.

:04:41. > :04:47.It took me over an hour to get up the road last night.

:04:48. > :04:50.But at last apart from one lane restriction,

:04:51. > :04:55.Driving through Tollbar during the height of the roadworks

:04:56. > :04:59.could have taken you hours but now, thanks to the new underpass,

:05:00. > :05:05.The project also took six months longer than expected

:05:06. > :05:08.because the wrong concrete was used on new bridges and had

:05:09. > :05:13.It was too much for Lisa Crankshaw from Hinckley who used to travel

:05:14. > :05:15.through the junction on the way to work.

:05:16. > :05:19.Getting back in time for her daughter became almost impossible.

:05:20. > :05:22.Some days I was the last parent to pick their child up and it was just

:05:23. > :05:25.getting so stressful that I just had to,

:05:26. > :05:28.you know, rethink everything and

:05:29. > :05:31.I decided that I was going to leave my job.

:05:32. > :05:34.But at the Midlands Air Museum, which became stranded

:05:35. > :05:37.on the wrong side of the roadworks, they're optimistic.

:05:38. > :05:41.The last three years have been horrendous for us, both fast getting

:05:42. > :05:45.in and for the customers getting air, but it is something that we

:05:46. > :05:49.have had to deal with and thankfully hopefully we are now in a situation

:05:50. > :05:53.The lane restrictions are due to be removed any time and then

:05:54. > :05:55.the junction will be fully functioning in time

:05:56. > :06:04.Finally, a woman from Gloucestershire who dreamed

:06:05. > :06:07.of owning her own reindeer is spending her first

:06:08. > :06:13.Karen Perrins, has been taking Dancer and Blitzen on visits around

:06:14. > :06:16.the county to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.

:06:17. > :06:20.They've been to schools, nursing homes and even

:06:21. > :06:25.Gloucestershire Police's Christmas Community event.

:06:26. > :06:28.Well, that's it from me - I think a white Christmas

:06:29. > :06:31.is probably off the cards, but from all of us on the late team,

:06:32. > :06:39.have a very Merry Christmas - here's Rebecca.

:06:40. > :06:45.It certainly was a wet and windy day today. The storm clouds gathered

:06:46. > :06:48.ahead of Stormont Barbara plumbing and from the West. That is now

:06:49. > :06:52.starting to clear away. We still have a keen reader as we head into

:06:53. > :06:57.Christmas Eve and we will keep that wind as we head through the weekend.

:06:58. > :07:02.Tonight it is calmer out there. We do still keep the breeze so we

:07:03. > :07:06.should stay frost free. Our temperatures are going to range

:07:07. > :07:10.between two and four selfies. We start tomorrow with dry and bright

:07:11. > :07:14.spells. A little bit of rain working its way down from the north and west

:07:15. > :07:18.but plenty of bright spells around that. There will be a keen breeze as

:07:19. > :07:22.well but not quite as strong as today. Temperatures between eight

:07:23. > :07:25.and nine Celsius. This mistake itself, milder but we do have rain

:07:26. > :07:26.to come and there is a chance we could see temperatures into high

:07:27. > :07:34.double figures. big day? Christmas Day. It will stay

:07:35. > :07:37.mild and temperatures could reach 14, 15. He is down bet that the

:07:38. > :07:47.national picture. It will be more northern parts of

:07:48. > :07:53.the UK that see the worst of the weather. Another storm is developing

:07:54. > :07:54.in the Atlantic. This will