Stranded holidaymakers can get free rail travel today to help them get home after an Air Traffic Control (ATC) fault led to hundreds of UK flights being cancelled and severely delayed.
LNER and Transpennine Express are both offering free standard class travel today for any customers who have been impacted by the Air Traffic Control technical issue and are having issues getting home across the UK all day on Tuesday 29 August.
The free rail travel has been offered by the train companies as an alternative after thousands of flights were cancelled and delayed due to a fault affecting flights in and out of the UK.
Travellers only have to show their boarding pass to claim the offer, which is running throughout Tuesday.
The LNER statement reads: “Following a UK Air Traffic Control technical issue on Monday 28 August 2023, some customers may need to return home earlier than originally planned.
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“LNER is offering free Standard Class travel for those affected and for anyone whose flight back to the UK has resulted in them landing at a different airport, or who is travelling on a different date than originally planned, meaning their journey home will involve a trip along the LNER route.
“Customers will be asked to present their airline ticket or boarding pass to make use of this offer, which will run across the 28th and 29th of August 2023.”
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We are allowing customers returning home from holiday following Air Traffic Control issues to travel at no charge today. Customers should present their airline ticket or boarding pass as proof of returning during the disruption.
The fault, first detected early on Monday 28 August, has seen UK airports move to delay flights – leaving thousands of unhappy passengers waiting in airports.
It is estimated that more than 500 flights have been cancelled or delayed by airlines operating across the UK, with countless numbers of those who have been/were set to travel this bank holiday weekend now stuck in limbo as they wait for their rescheduled flights or for alternative means of transport.
Even more concerningly, according to the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), while the network-wide technical issue is now thought to have been “identified and remedied”, they have warned that the subsequent disruption could last until later into the week.
A limited number of flights were able to operate but overall air traffic was severely restricted as engineers struggled to locate and rectify the problem, with controllers left with no other choice but to input flight plans manually.
With some prospective passengers facing up to as much as 12-hour delays or massive price hikes following the flights being outright cancelled, it’s hard to overstate just how long the disruption will last or exactly how many will have been affected.
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Meanwhile, NATS has insisted they will be continuing to investigate what caused the system failure “very thoroughly”. The technical fault is said to have lasted for more than four hours, only causing further chaos in airports and on planes as people were informed they would be stuck there for the time being.
Manchester’s free summer picnic is coming back to Oxford Road
Danny Jones
Manchester’s free ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ is returning to the Oxford Road Corridor later this year, promising plenty of live music and entertainment, family-friendly fun, outdoor activities and lots more.
Coming back to Circle Square for the second time, the now annual and completely free city centre festival will set up for its sophomore edition right on Symphony Park.
Surrounded by numerous local businesses located within the thriving Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group neighbourhood, this mini-district is once again set to draw in crowds from all over Manchester.
With that in mind, get your coolers, picnic baskets and blankets ready: it’s time for some alfresco fanfare.
Kicking off next month for one day only, Circle Square‘s ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ 2.0 will get underway pretty much from the outset, with the organisers promising a full day of festivities.
Visitors can look forward to an even more jam-packed schedule than last year, with creative workshops and interactive experiences, DJs right through to the evening, alongside roaming steel drum performances and even silent disco adventures, just to name a few.
Other events include: sip and paint sessions, pop-up mini golf and basketball shoot-outs; ‘foot pool’, a seasonal bouquet bar, as well as a dedicated picnic space for dogs, complete with bespoke pup portraits. Adorable.
2025 saw plenty of furry friends steal the show and become local celebrities for the day, and we’re sure ’26 will be no different.
The long picnic tables will once again take centre stage, creating a relaxed space for families and friends to come together over great food from Circle Square’s wide mix of indie restaurants and cafes, such as Gooey, Onda, Hello Oriental, Half Dozen Other, Saffa Soul, North Bar, Monkey Trio and more.
Punters are, obviously, to bring along their own picnic bits, packed lunches and favourite scran, but it’s nice to have the option of treating yourself to stuff on-site.
Better still, Circle Square’s proximity not only to Oxford Road train station, but the St Peter’s Square tram stop and various bus routes (even Piccadilly isn’t really that far) means that this is super accessible for anyone interested – not to mention that it’s completely free and open to all members of the public.
Taking place on Saturday, 8 August, we hope to see you there and hopefully with the sun shining.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures/Jody Hartley (supplied via SH Comms)
News
UK set for another ‘potential’ heatwave next week after warmest June on record
Emily Sergeant
England could be heading towards another potential heatwave early next week, the Met Office has revealed.
While it’s obviously true that temperatures this week have returned to average for the time of year, bringing largely settled conditions for many, once next week rolls around, some parts of the country could be heating up once again – with the Met Office revealing what Greater Manchester residents should prepare for.
For the early part of next week, temperatures will definitely rise and perhaps reach what are considered heatwave conditions for some.
But if this is the case, the forecast suggests that it’s ‘unlikely’ to reach the high temperatures and humidity of last month’s heat, and the North West won’t be getting the worst of it.
The potential of next week’s heatwave comes after last month was officially declared the UK’s warmest June on record.
After a week of respite from the heat, high pressure moves in this weekend, dominating many southern and central areas for the next 10 days.
A defining feature of the month’s heatwave was the ‘exceptionally warm’ overnight temperatures, with frequent ‘tropical nights’ helping to drive the highest average June minimum temperatures on record.
Giving an insight into what’s to come as we head into the weekend, Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster, Tony Wisson, explained: “Toward the weekend, high pressure will continue to build in across most of the UK as it extends from the Azores. This will lead to more settled, warm or very warm conditions for many, especially across England and Wales, though some rain may still affect the far north.
“The forecast for this weekend suggests that temperatures could approach high 20s°C across parts of England, perhaps 30°C in parts of the southeast, with values of mid to high 20s°C in Wales.
“Although a return to heatwave conditions is looking increasingly likely for some areas, the likelihood of such extreme high temperatures or high levels of humidity as last week is currently low.”
Georgina Pellant -
29th August 2023 
