Travel plans, food supplies and when are pharmacies open over Christmas?

There can be a lot to think about over Christmas, from whether public transport will run to when shops and services will be open.

With bank holidays on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day in the UK and the fourth bank holiday on 2 January in Scotland, here are some tips to help you win over the festive period.

Motoring organizations RAC and AA predict that 2025 could see the busiest holiday getaways in history.

The RAC expects 37.5 million trips to take place in the week to Christmas Day. The roads are expected to be particularly busy after lunch on Saturday, December 20, and in the afternoon and evening on Christmas Eve.

It suggests that the following periods may be quieter:

• Saturday 20 December before 12:00 GMT
• Sunday, December 21, before 10:00
• Monday, December 22, after 17:00
• Tuesday, December 23, before 11:00
• Wednesday, December 24, before 11:00

You can check planned roadworks and closures in England at: National Highways website.

For example, The M27 motorway will be closed in both directions between junctions nine (Whiteley) and 11 (Fareham).From 24 December at 20:00 until Sunday, 4 January at 04:00.

Details of the planned road works can be found here: Traffic Scotland, Traffic Wales And TrafficwatchNI.

You can also check local weather alerts before setting off.

Make sure you have enough fuel, your tires are properly inflated, and your headlights are working. Prepare for bad weather by carrying a charged phone, food, drinks and warm clothing. Stock up on your screen washer and defroster supplies.

Most BP and Shell petrol stations will be open as usual, but some garages may have shorter opening hours. All Tesco petrol stations will be closed on Christmas Day. On other days, opening hours may differ from the opening hours of the linked store.

trains

Some National Rail services will end early on Christmas Eve and no trains will run on Christmas Day.

Most train operators will not be offering any services on Boxing Day either. However, a small number of companies (Chiltern Railways, London Overground, Merseyrail, ScotRail, Southern and Stansted Express) will have a very limited service.

London’s Liverpool Street, England’s busiest station It will be closed for eight days between Christmas Day and New Year’s Dayfor work on its roof.

There will be no trains coming to London Waterloo on 27 and 28 December. With trains terminating at Clapham Junction and a reduced schedule from December 29 to January 4.

Improvement works will also affect services to Cardiff Central station Between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

You can check other engineering studies and schedule changes below. National Railway website.

There are no Eurostar services on Christmas Day, but trains run every other day.

Buses and coaches

Most local bus services will not operate on Christmas Day, but check individual websites for detailed schedule information.

National Express will run extra buses on some routes in the UK between 20 December and 4 January.

Christmas Day itself, 355 services will be provided from 96 locations. This includes routes between Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, as well as routes to and from some of Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports.

Transport for London (Tfl)

Bus, tram, DLR, metro, overground and Elizabeth Line services It will end earlier than usual on Christmas Eve. There will be no services on Christmas Day.

There is no Elizabeth line service on Boxing Day and A number of aboveground lines were also closed. Some metro lines have limited services. No night tubes or night surface services will operate.

Tfl flights will continue throughout the night on New Year’s Eve.

Some black taxis and private taxi companies may operate throughout the period, including Christmas Day. Bicycles and electric scooters will be available for rent.

Congestion charges will not apply between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is only suspended on Christmas Day, but the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) remains active throughout this period.

Blackwall and Silvertown tunnel charges are not valid on Christmas Day.

Ferries

The Port of Dover will close at 15:30 GMT on Christmas Eve and reopen at 07:30 on Boxing Day.

The latest departures on December 24 are as follows:

• DFDS (Dunkerque route): 12:00
• DFDS (Calais route): 13:15
• Irish Ferries:14:25
• P&O: 16:05

There are no services to Holyhead or Portsmouth on Christmas Day either, but services will operate on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

Most airports in the UK are open on Christmas Day, although their schedules may be shorter. All Heathrow and Gatwick terminals will remain open as normal.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) expects Friday 19 December to be the busiest travel day with around 460,000 passengers. About 160,000 people are expected to fly on Christmas Day; This is a 13% increase from 2024.

planned Strike action at London Luton Airport could cause disruptionBetween 19-29 December. Some easyJet check-in and baggage handling staff employed by DHL Group are set to quit without being paid their wages.

All air passengers are advised to check the status of their flight before departure. Experts also recommend confirming any return travel.

As usual, passengers must arrive at the airport three hours before long-haul flights and two hours before short-haul flights.

If public transportation is not operating, you may need to make alternative travel arrangements to get to the airport. If you plan to drive, consider booking parking in advance.

CAA I recommend it to travelers:

• Leave gifts unwrapped in carry-on luggage to allow for security checks
• Note that party poppers are not allowed on UK aircraft
• Note that some airlines do not allow other celebratory items such as crackers

GP surgeries are usually closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Some practices offer after-hours services that you can access via . NHS 111 helplineIt is a company that works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls from landlines and mobile phones are free.

If you run out of medicine while your GP is closed, you can use NHS 111. urgent prescription service.

Our A&E departments will be open as usual throughout the holiday. Urgent treatment centers are also operating, but their hours may be reduced.

you should Only call 999 in life-threatening emergencies such as heart attack, stroke, severe bleeding, or difficulty breathing.

Most NHS dentists are closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. For urgent problems, emergency services can be reached via NHS 111.

Most pharmacies will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

However, one or more of them must be open near you as part of out-of-hours arrangements. Your local pharmacy should display details of the route or you can find details online.

You can find open pharmacies near you via the relevant NHS website:

Boots will open more than 60 pharmacies on Christmas Day and more than 460 on New Year’s Day.

All Superdrug pharmacies will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Most branches in Scotland will remain closed on January 2.

You should check your local store’s opening hours but generally assume:

• Early closing on Christmas Eve
• Almost all stores will be closed on Christmas Day
• Aldi, Lidl, M&S and most Waitrose stores will also close on Boxing Day. Other chains have reduced operating hours
• early closing on new year’s eve
• Aldi, Lidl, M&S and most Waitrose stores are closed on New Year’s Eve

Small local stores are more likely to open earlier and later than larger supermarkets. Most of the stores in the forecourts of gas stations will also be open.

Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats apps and websites will be open over the festive period, but restaurants will set their own opening hours.

Some payments will be done earlier If due between December 24, 2025 and January 2, 2026:

• Universal credit payments due on 24, 25 or 26 December will be made on 24 December
• Other payments due on 24, 25, 26 December will be paid on 23 December
• All payments due on 1 January, including Universal Credit, will be paid by 31 December
• In Scotland, payments due on January 2 will be made on December 31.

Child benefit payments due on public holidays will also be paid on a different date:

• In Northern Ireland, payments due on 29 or 30 December will be paid on 30 and 31 December
• Payments due on January 5 in Scotland will be made on January 6.

The Department for Work and Pensions says that if you don’t get your payment you should notify the office that pays your benefit.