Nadine Houghton from the GMB union - one of the two unions involved in the British Airways dispute - says the blame for these strikes "needs to be laid squarely at the door of British Airways".

Members of her union were "genuinely sorry", she told the BBC, for any disruption this might cause people who want to get away in the summer months.

"But the problem is that this dispute has been many, many years in the making, and our members - primarily low paid, part-time women workers - have been asking nicely, for over a year now, to have this money paid back."

Workers are angry after a 10% pay cut imposed on them during the pandemic has not been reinstated.

"Unfortunately, they've been forced into taking this vote... because they're done with asking nicely, we've run out of road with negotiations."

Image source, Reuters

The dispute between British Airways staff at Heathrow centres on a 10% pay cut made by management during the Covid pandemic.

Check-in staff want the 10% reinstated, but the company has so far refused, despite restoring it to other airline staff.

Over 500 members of Unite recorded a 94.7 per cent vote in favour of strike action this summer - from an 81% turnout.

The union is now giving BA a short window of opportunity to remove the 10% pay cut before announcing strikes, likely to cause severe disruption to flights this summer - particularly at Terminal 5, home to the airline.

“The problems British Airways is facing are entirely of its own making. It brutally cut jobs and pay during the pandemic even though the government was paying them to save jobs," said Unite officer Russ Ball.

“They have insulted this workforce, slashing pay by 10 per cent only to restore it to managers, but not to our members.

Strike dates have not yet been announced, but are likely to hit the second half of July and August, guaranteeing maximum disruption.

Travellers are likely to face more disruption this summer after British Airways workers based at Heathrow Airport voted in favour of strikes in a dispute over pay.

A total of 700 workers employed as check-in staff, and in other customer-facing roles at the London airport are expected to walk out - with strikes likely to be scheduled during the peak holiday season.

It is understood that if strikes go ahead BA, which operates from terminals three and five at Heathrow, has plans to cover staff, including managers potentially dealing with check-ins.

However, there would still be disruption for passengers, especially at terminal five, leading to cancellations, which would be focused on routes with several daily flights.

British Airways workers based at Heathrow have voted in favour of strikes in a dispute over pay, the GMB and Unite unions have announced.

Stay with us for the latest.

Victoria Bourne & Steffan Powell
BBC News

More now from the BBC's Victoria and Steffan who are on the ground at Glastonbury...

We have made it to Worthy Farm and are having an ice-cream before the weather turns and our real work starts! The journey only took three hours.

Speaking to those who already on site, Wednesday was the busiest day for travel to the festival in recent memory. Clearly people didn’t want to miss out on the biggest party post Covid.

People here seem desperate to put the last couple of years behind them and come together to celebrate in this famous field.

Image source, Reuters

Less than a fifth of the typical number of daily rail passengers used stations on the first day of the rail strikes, according to Network Rail.

A spokesman said the number of people using its stations on Tuesday 21 June - the first of three days of industrial action this week - was between 12% and 18% of normal.

He suggested numbers on Thursday looked similar, but did not provide figures.

It appears many employees have taken advantage of working remotely - which became commonplace during Covid lockdowns.

Broadband provider Virgin Media O2 said data showed there were "millions more" people working from home during the walkouts.

Roads have also been quieter than expected, says National Highways.

Official figures show, external 46% of workers in Britain travel to work every day versus a quarter who spend some time in the office and some at home, while 14% work from home full-time.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Scotland's first minister has called on the UK government to start doing its job and get around the table with the RMT union.

Nicola Sturgeon says: "The UK public are paying the price of the Tory anti-union rhetoric.

"The rail strike that is crippling the UK right now is not the result of a dispute with ScotRail. It is a dispute with Network Rail and with English operating companies, therefore it is entirely a reserved matter."

She adds: "Let me repeat the call today for the UK government to start doing their job, to get around the table to bring a resolution to this and to drop their anti-trade unionism and show some respect for workers across the economy."

Richard Williams
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

Ashley Davis runs Morning Sunshine coffee shop at Warwick Parkway station and served his last coffee on Monday.

"So sad to see it back like this again, no-one here, the bus services that come in, drop people off, are empty, it is really disheartening," he says.

He says they feel totally overlooked for support with no trains services running at the station since Monday and businesses like his need support.

"If this strike action does not get sorted, if the government do not get involved, we are left as collateral damage. Our bills still have to be paid every month."

Cab drivers are expected by some to benefit from the lack of trains but Tarri Virk, in Coventry, says drivers in the city are suffering.

With no commuters from London or elsewhere needing transport, he says he waited an hour on Wednesday at the main station but no-one wanted him.

"When they are not coming in, it is very stressful. It is very, very bad. You have to dip into your savings to keep everything going."

Empty stations, RMT picket lines, neat rows of trains in a depot - here's a snapshot of what today's rail strike looks like around the UK.

Katy Austin
Business Correspondent

I've been speaking to an office workspace firm in Cheltenham which has seen a 30% upturn in business this week from people booking individual day passes due to the strike action.

Claire Storey, founder of the Workplace Network in Cheltenham, says the strike has been great for business.

“We also have a lot of people that commute once or twice a week and can’t do that at all now due to the strikes so are here for more days,” she tells me.

Lawyers, media workers, recruiters and consultants are among her clientele who generally live in Cheltenham and commute to London, Bristol, or Birmingham.

“People always assumed before that they had to work in an office, and because of Covid they’re now discovering they can be flexible," she says.

Gwen, who is using the co-working space in Cheltenham says the strikes mean she is not able to see her clients face-to-face in London but is able to meet them digitally.

“We have to be agile, we have to adapt to lockdown and strikes now, that’s just the way we work now," she said.

Official figures show, external, 46% of workers in Britain travel to work every day versus a quarter who spend some time in the office and some at home, while 14% work from home full-time.

Image source, Reuters

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described the strikes as "unnecessary" and stressed the benefits of "sensible reforms" of the rail system.

Speaking from Rwanda, where he is attending a Commonwealth summit, he says "people should get around the table and sort it out", adding he wants a "great future" for British railways.

Johnson says his government has invested more in the rail network than "any previous government in the last 50 years".

The PM adds that opposition to reform likely comes from "union barons" who he says are more attached to current working practices than their members, adding he thinks the strikes "are a terrible idea".

This morning we heard that revellers heading to the Glastonbury Festival were pleasantly surprised to find very short queues at London's Paddington station.

We've received some video showing that by mid-morning, queues of passengers were building up.

The first trains from Paddington to Castle Cary earlier this morning were nine carriages long, but only a few dozen people heading to the Glastonbury Festival were on board.

Image source, PA Media

If you haven't been keeping track of the rail strikes today, here's what you need to know about the second day of industrial action:

• Railway stations across England, Scotland and Wales are far quieter than normal today as strikes cause major disruption to Britain's train services
• Thousands of rail workers are staging a walkout over pay and working conditions, with another strike planned for Saturday
• Talks are ongoing between unions and rail companies to resolve the dispute, and RMT boss Mick Lynch has warned more strikes are "extremely likely" if they fail
• Commuters have planned ahead for the strike: Broadband provider Virgin Media O2 says there are "millions more" people working from home, while the roads have also been quiet
• PM Boris Johnson described the strikes as "unnecessary" and echoed comments from the Rail Delivery Group that reform is needed in the industry

Lorna Gordon
BBC News Scotland correspondent

Image source, PA Media

If you still want to travel by train from Edinburgh to London today you have missed your chance. It has departed the station already.

The last direct service left at 12.30 from Waverley station. The last service from Glasgow Central to London left even earlier at 12.22.

There are other trains from both cities to stations in the north of England. But this key route stopping so early in the day is an indication of just how curtailed services are as a result of this Network Rail strike.

As RMT members around the country strike, many railway workers have also come together to protest and declare their support publicly.

A picket line is where workers and union representatives stand outside a workplace to let others know why they are taking industrial action.

Here are some of the pictures of the striking workers as they gather outside railways stations around the country.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

Jack Burgess
BBC News

Image source, Jack Burgess

London Bridge and King’s Cross train stations are both much quieter than usual today - but many people are still milling about hoping to catch trains.

The timetables show far fewer scheduled trains than most Thursdays and signs warn people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

Just my luck that the one day I need to get a train from London to Newcastle for a friend’s wedding coincides with the biggest rail strike in 30 years.

Thankfully, my train is one of the few still running - but many other travellers haven’t been as lucky.

I’ll be crossing my fingers and hoping I make it to Newcastle today.

Deal to avert third day of strikes looking unlikelypublished at 12:26 British Summer Time 23 June 2022

12:26 BST 23 June 2022

Katy Austin
Transport Correspondent

Both sides in this dispute insist that in recent days they had thought progress was being made. But Wednesday's talks again ended without an agreement.

As things stand, a deal to avert the third strike going ahead on Saturday isn't looking particularly likely.

The RMT union says that in talks it asked Network Rail to withdraw Monday's letter about pressing ahead with a formal consultation over changes to working practices in maintenance teams - which would entail redundancies.

A source at Network Rail, which maintains and operates the tracks, described this as a "red herring".

They insisted the letter could be ripped up if the union would properly negotiate on the reforms.

Victoria Bourne & Steffan Powell
BBC News

More now from the BBC's Victoria and Steffan who are en route to Somerset from London..

We are well on our way to Glastonbury and the train that we are on has empty carriages and plenty of seats.

It’s not the picture that many people expected as getting to the festival can be stressful at the best of times.

In fact, all of the passengers that we have spoken to have remarked how pleasant the journey has been.

It looks like festival-goers have heeded warnings about the industrial action and found other ways to get to Worthy Farm.

Image source, PA Media

"It's difficult for everybody but I think the public is behind us," says RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey.

"They understand it's a scandal that billions are being ripped out of our industry at the same time workers are being punished," Dempsey told PA news agency.

He said teachers, postal workers and health workers were all facing a similar cost-of-living crisis.

"It's about time Britain had a pay rise. Wages have been falling for 30 years and corporate profits have been going through the roof."

A YouGov poll conducted earlier this month suggests that more of the public opposed this week’s rail strikes than supported them.

But the poll saw an interesting divide between young and older people, as well as those living in the north and south.

According to the poll, the highest level of support for strikers is found in the north of England, while the highest opposition comes from people in London.

Meanwhile, younger people are far more likely to support the walkouts, despite also being more likely to travel by train than their older counterparts.

Image source, Reuters

Broadband provider Virgin Media O2 says it recorded an increase in usage of up to 10% on the first day of the rail strikes on Tuesday, indicating that "millions more people" are working from home this week.

A spokesman says the company saw a peak 5% week-on-week lift in its broadband upstream traffic, due to the increase in video calls on platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

He adds the company also saw a 10% week-on-week increase in downstream traffic, with levels "up around 1.5 terabits per second (Tbps) to 17.0Tbps".