A commuter forced to take holiday after rail strikes stopped him from getting to work said he has lost sympathy with striking staff.

Chris Batty, who travels from Christchurch in Dorset to Totton in Hampshire said he has had to take eight days leave over the year.

South Western Railway (SWR) said it was proving a "real challenge" to find a deal which worked for everyone.

Industrial action will see most of the rail network closed down this week.

Chris Batty told the BBC he had no option but to take leave because there were "no trains west of Southampton.

"I've had to take eight days holiday this year out of my 20 allocated to me because of train strikes. I've lost those days I could have used for something else."

He said that at the beginning of the train strikes he had some "sympathy" with the striking rail workers, adding "we'd all like to earn more money".

"But I think the fact they're sticking so hard to what they want to get, my sympathy is very little with them now."

Read the full story here.

David Brown
BBC News Visual Journalism Team

Image source, .

Today's strike on the railways is the first in a long line of industrial action expected in the coming days.

Royal Mail staff and driving examiners begin their action tomorrow, with nurses, highway workers, bus drivers and some baggage handlers at Heathrow following later in the week.

Next week will see the first strike by ambulance workers and Border Force staff.

The disruption to many services is expected to continue into the new year.

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Image source, HM COASTGUARD - ORKNEY & SHETLAND

Some homes in Shetland could be without power until the end of the week as engineers face "extremely challenging conditions", an energy firm has warned.

About 3,800 households are without power after snow and ice caused "extensive damage" to overhead cables.

SSEN Distribution said local teams described conditions as the worst they had seen in 20 years.

They hope to restore energy on Yell and Unst on Tuesday but customers in outlying islands face a longer wait.

Image source, Reuters

Just joining us? Here's a recap of today's main developments:

• Snow and ice continues to cause disruption for many people across the UK
• Yellow weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office for the south-west and north-east coast of England as well as northern Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland

• Meanwhile, members of the RMT rail workers' union are staging fresh strike action
• Today is the first of four days of rail strikes this week - today and Wednesday, and again on Friday and Saturday
• Midwives in Wales have voted for strike action over a "disappointing and unacceptable" pay award worth around 4% this year
• But midwives in England will not strike after the numbers taking part in the ballot fell short of the 50% needed
• Physiotherapists in England and Wales have also voted to go on strike in the new year

The Met Office has announced fresh weather warnings for areas across the UK.

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice has been issued for northern Scotland and north-east England until 12:00 GMT on Friday.

Snow and ice warnings are also in place in south-west England from 18:00 GMT on Tuesday until 10:00 on Wednesday.

An ice warning is in place in east England from 15:00 BST on Tuesday until 12:00 GMT on Wednesday.

The Met Office has also added a yellow ice warning in northern parts of Northern Ireland, including Belfast and Londonderry from 12:00 GMT Tuesday until 12:00 GMT Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, new figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that 417,000 working days were lost to strikes in October - the highest for 11 years.

Referencing the ongoing significant industrial unrest, Geoff Tily, senior economist at the Trade Union Congress (TUC), points out a "very significant and severe pay crisis across the whole economy".

He says the TUC's analysis this week showed that over 2022 as a whole, real pay - that's pay adjusted for inflation - is going to be falling by 3% which would be the worst year for real pay for 50 years.

"This is a very tough year for workers on the back of a 14-year real pay crisis. On top of all this we have a threat of a recession and the possibility of the loss of up to a million jobs," he tells the BBC.

He says part of the strategy for protecting the economy is the same as the strategy for doing right by workers. "We need to get more money into workers' pockets so they can keep the economy turning over.

"Inflation isn't rising because of pay, it's rising because of food and commodity prices which are all factors beyond the control of workers.

"The danger comes from too little pay, too little spending power in the economy, especially given the threat of recession."

Jim Reed
Health reporter, BBC News

Image source, PA Media

Midwives in Wales have voted for strike action over a "disappointing and unacceptable" pay award worth around 4% this year.

But industrial action in England will not go ahead after the numbers taking part in the ballot fell short of the 50% needed under trade union rules.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said 46.7% of its 28,500 members in England voted in the ballot. Of those that did take part, 88.4% voted in favour of strike action.

In Wales, 55.4% of RCM members responded to the ballot with 91.5% voting in favour of strike action.

Julie Richards, Director for Wales at the RCM, said midwives in Wales are "exhausted".

"The disappointing and unacceptable 4% pay offer simply reinforced their feelings of being overlooked and undervalued," she said.

"Taking industrial action is always a last resort, and the decision taken by our members today shows just how desperate they are for policy makers to listen.

"The Welsh Government must now do so to get maternity services in Wales back on track and to stop the inevitable exodus of demoralised staff."

Image source, Reuters

The unions are in dispute with the government and rail companies about pay, job cuts and changes to terms and conditions.

Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living. But the rail industry is under pressure to save money, after the pandemic left a hole in its finances.

Bosses say reforms need to be agreed, to afford pay increases and modernise the railway.

Network Rail is planning to cut 1,900 jobs as part of changes to the way its maintenance teams work - although it insists most of this could be achieved by people leaving voluntarily.

The RMT disagrees with some of the changes and wants a guarantee of no compulsory job losses.

But what deal have rail workers been offered?

Network Rail made an offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a 4% pay rise in 2023.

But RMT union boss Mick Lynch described the deal as "substandard" and its members have rejected it.

The union also rejected an offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) - which represents train companies. That included a pay increase of up to 8% over two years and a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies until April 2024.

In exchange, it wanted repurposing or closure of ticket offices and Sunday working.

Read more here.

David Brown
BBC News Visual Journalism Team

Travellers in England and Wales can expect cancellations, reduced services and other disruption on every day until Monday 9 January, according to Network Rail.

In Scotland, Scotrail is not involved in the RMT dispute, but services will be disrupted on the strike days themselves.

Scotrail bosses say they will not be able to operate the vast majority of services between today and Friday.

There are nine strike days over the next four weeks, plus no trains running on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Fifteen days will see reduced services, busier trains and morning services starting late.

Image source, .

Physiotherapists in England and Wales have voted to go on strike, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) has announced.

The body said 84% of votes cast were in favour of action and that turnout was 54%.

It added that the process of planning the strike would begin early in the new year.

It said it "continues to encourage governments in England and Wales to prioritise paying NHS staff a decent wage with improved working conditions, to ensure a fair outcome for all of our members across the UK".

It comes just weeks after physiotherapists in Scotland also voted in favour of a strike.

The votes mark the first time CSP members have ever been balloted on strike action.

Image source, PA Media

The RAC says today remains an "incredibly demanding day" for its patrols, with the rail strikes likely to force yet more people onto the roads.

The motoring organisation had its busiest day for breakdowns on record yesterday, with around 12,000 drivers needing help, the equivalent of eight every minute of the day.

RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis said hazardous road conditions are continuing this week following another major refreeze overnight.

He advised motorists to allow more time to de-ice and de-mist their vehicle thoroughly before setting off.

"Carrying warm clothing layers – including a waterproof jacket – as well as a blanket, sturdy footwear, a flask of hot drink and power bank to keep phones charged are all extremely important.”

Many schools are still closed or partially closed today across the UK due to poor weather.

In Scotland, schools in the Highlands and Aberdeenshire are badly affected, with some reporting problems with frozen pipes and lack of central heating, as well as treacherous road conditions.

In England, areas including Gloucestershire, Essex, London, Cornwall, Devon, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire are among counties where schools are closed or partially closed.

Some schools also remain shut in Wales, notably in Caerphilly.

No schools are listed as shut in Northern Ireland.

If you're unsure what's behind the wave of strikes hitting the UK, the BBC's Make Sense of Your World series has made a short film exploring the key issues.

It looks at who's taking action, why now, and how the situation might be resolved.

Watch the film here.

It's not only rail workers striking this week.

Workers across several industries are downing their tools, with bus drivers, Royal Mail workers, nurses, highways workers and airport baggage handlers also on strike.

Friday and Saturday are set to be the worst affected days.

Here's a helpful chart so you can keep track of who's striking when.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told his cabinet that the UK faces a “challenging period” as the country faces significant industrial action over the coming weeks, his official spokesman said.

Sunak said the government had been "fair and reasonable in its approach to agreeing the independent pay review bodies’ recommendations for public sector pay rises and in facilitating further discussion with unions and employers," the spokesman said.

He added that the government will do all it can to minimise disruption but said the only way to stop it was “by the unions going back round the table and calling off these strikes”.

Image source, PA Media

It's just past midday in the UK. If you're just joining us or need a re-cap? Let's take a look at the latest updates on the rail strike:

• Members of the RMT rail workers' union have started fresh strike action
• Today is the first of four days of strikes this week - today and Wednesday, and again on Friday and Saturday
• The rail industry says only 20% of services will run today and in some parts of the UK there will be no trains at all

• It comes as snow and ice continues to cause disruption for motorists across the UK
• RMT members rejected a fresh pay offer from Network Rail yesterday, describing it as "substandard"
• RMT boss Mick Lynch said he remains "optimistic" that a deal can be reached, but said the government needs to help "facilitate" that deal
• Transport Secretary Mark Harper said he was disappointed that the RMT rejected the latest offer, adding that there is not a "bottomless pit of money"

• More strikes are planned for the rest of December and January, and with knock-on disruption on non-strike days and the Christmas holidays the next normal day of service will be 9 January
• The Transport Salaried Staff Association rail workers’ union has just announced a fresh strike, over pay, jobs and conditions, for 26 and 27 December

The Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) rail workers’ union has announced a fresh strike over pay, jobs and conditions.

TSSA members at CrossCountry will strike on 26 and 27 December.

The union said it wants a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, no unagreed changes to terms and conditions, and a pay increase which addresses the rising cost of living.

The TSSA said the walkouts will severely affect CrossCountry train services, which cover large parts of the UK.

It replaces a strike at CrossCountry by TSSA on 17 December which has now been cancelled.

TSSA organising director Nadine Rae said its members at CrossCountry "do not want to strike, especially over the Christmas holiday period, but they are sick and tired of being taken for granted.

“They deserve a pay rise to help manage the escalating cost of living, and they rightly demand job security.

London's Euston station is usually teeming with thousands of commuters on a Tuesday morning.

But today it's mostly deserted as the latest major strikes take place.

Image source, Reuters

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

More Met Office weather warnings have been issued for the continuing wintry conditions across the UK.

Snow and ice warnings are in force across northern and eastern areas of Scotland and eastern England as well as the east of Northern Ireland.

Snow and ice could also cause some disruption in south west England from Tuesday afternoon through into Wednesday, hence another warning here.

Snow this afternoon on some of the high ground of the south west could settle even at lower levels.

While this snow may be light and patchy for many, there’s a possibility of some heavier snow at times with 5-10cm over the high ground.

You can watch our forecast for the next 24 hours below.