We're closing our live coverage, but you can read our main story about the airport strikes here.

Here's a brief reminder of what has happened today:

• Thousands of travellers arriving in the UK were told to expect delays as 1,000 Border Force staff began eight days of strikes over pay, pensions and job security
• The head of the PCS union, which represents the striking workers, said staff could continue the industrial action for "many months into the new year" if there was no new pay offer
• However, travellers flying into Gatwick and Heathrow described few disruptions and said that military personnel standing in for border staff are checking documents efficiently
• The AA said traffic congestion was starting to worsen across UK motorways
• Trains will stop running at 15:00 on Christmas Eve and Network Rail says there will be "significantly reduced services" due to strike action
• Royal Mail staff are striking today and tomorrow, meaning the delivery of last-minute parcels and cards could be affected
• The Royal College of Nursing said it would hold further strikes on 18 and 19 January if the government "fails to open NHS pay talks"
• The GMB union called off a second day of ambulance strikes planned in England and Wales for 28 December to avoid "additional anxiety" for the public - and instead announced a new walkout scheduled for 11 January
• The head of the NHS Confederation membership group said there was a risk the NHS would be "held hostage" by the pay stalemates between unions and the government
• Further strikes were also announced by nurses in Scotland, physiotherapists, and staff on London's Elizabeth Line

Thank you for joining us today. This live page was brought to you by Alys Davies, Emily McGarvey, Aoife Walsh, Marita Moloney, Tarik Habte, Jeremy Gahagan and Samuel Horti.

• Airports have advised travellers to check the status of their flights before travelling
• The strikes are likely to affect people returning to the UK rather than departing
• The Home Office has said passport checks may take longer on strike days

• The length of any delays will depend on how well the Home Office can fill the staffing gaps
• If your flight is cancelled due to strike action, airlines must offer rebooking or a refund

The NHS Confederation, the membership group for NHS organisations, is adding to the chorus of voices urging the government and unions to agree on a pay deal, in the wake of announcements of further strike action by nurses and ambulance workers to take place in January.

In a statement, external, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, says the new strikes could have been avoided "had the government attempted to find more common ground with the unions over pay".

"The government cannot just sit back and let these strikes happen when patient care is on the line, and the unions must honour their commitment to protect 'life and limb'," he says.

He says he worries that the NHS could be "held hostage to this position of stalemate between both sides".

"This benefits no one," he says.

The government has said it won't negotiate pay for health staff because it has accepted the recommendations of independent pay review bodies - while the striking unions say the offers of below-inflation pay rises are not good enough.

Image source, EPA

The Public and Commercial Services union boss Mark Serwotka said today that some of the Border Force staff that are striking across the UK make up the "in-work poor" - but what did he mean by that?

Food bank charity The Trussell Trust measures in-work poverty by looking at a household's total income (the combined income of everyone that works) minus the cost of housing.

In-work poverty is when that income is below 60% of the average, when considering households with a similar composition of people living in them.

Data sent to the BBC by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), which aims to solve UK poverty, shows that at the start of 2022:

• Two-thirds (68%) of working-age adults in poverty were living in a household where at least one person was working
• At 68%, the proportion of working-age adults in poverty who are in a working household is the highest it has been since records began in 1996

The JRF report also highlights that the two industries that have recorded the highest increase in poverty rates are, first, administration and support services, and second, human health and social work.

Rebecca McDonald, chief economist at the JRF, today added that work should "offer a reliable route out of poverty" - but that is not the case in the UK, as too often work is "insecure or poorly paid".

Physiotherapists in England will strike next month in response to the government "continuing to refuse to talk to NHS unions about pay", the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) says.

The union says it has no choice but to use the industrial action mandate secured by its members in more than 100 trusts in England.

It says strike dates will be announced in early January, and will likely be on consecutive days in different parts of the country.

The CSP says that an opinion poll of 2,000 adults across the UK showed that 55% supported strike action by physiotherapy staff, while 25% opposed.

Plans for strike action in Wales are also underway - several health unions there have widespread strike mandates, the CSP says.

Claire Sullivan, director of employment relations and union services at the CSP, says: “No-one wants to strike - it’s an action of last resort - and my message to the government is to avoid it by responding to our repeated calls for pay talks and coming to the table prepared to negotiate."

Image source, Michelle Airey

How far would you travel to get a young person you'd never met back to their family this Christmas?

How about 375 miles (604km), from south Wales to Surrey then up the M25 to the Watford Gap and back home again?

It reads like a scene from a feel-good Christmas movie, but that is how one couple from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, have chosen to spend their Christmas Eve.

After hearing a mum call BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show to say that her 19-year-old son will be left stranded in Surrey on Christmas eve due to the train strikes, Sarah Watkins and husband Steve wanted to help.

"We too are parents and our babies are with us, albeit they’re older but they’re going to be with us on Christmas Day, and this young man was going to be on his own in Surrey on Christmas day with no specific plans because of the strikes," Mrs Watkins told BBC Radio Wales Drive programme.

Read the full story here.

Image source, PA Media

Today, ambulance workers who are members of the GMB union called off a strike for next week but announced a new ambulance strike in January. The Royal College of Nursing also said it would hold further nurse strikes on 18 and 19 January.

In response, Health Secretary Steve Barclay says he is "disappointed", and urges unions to "reconsider further industrial action".

The strikes are being co-ordinated to create "maximum disruption", he says in a statement.

"While union members will not be going ahead with strikes over Christmas, we are disappointed they have announced further co-ordinated strikes in January to cause maximum disruption at a time when the NHS is already under extreme pressure.

"Ambulance staff on picket lines have been raising concerns about working conditions and handover times, so it is important to use this extra time to keep talking about how we can make the NHS a better place to work."

The "unaffordable pay demands of unions" would take money away from frontline services and cause further delays, he adds.

Unions say the government's below-inflation pay offers are insufficient.

Motorists have been warned to avoid parts of the M25 as severe traffic queues are expected to build.

The RAC and INRIX, a transport data company, were predicting 50-minute delays on the M25 clockwise at 12:30 GMT between junction 7 for the M23 and junction 16 for the M40.

Vehicles were travelling at an average of 26mph, they said.

Drivers are advised to delay their trips on this section of the road until after 7pm, when traffic is expected to be lighter.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis says: “We’re expecting to see lengthy delays on parts of the M25 today as Christmas getaway and end-of-the-week commuter traffic combine.

"We advise drivers, if possible, to avoid these roads around this time or delay their trips until after 7pm this evening when traffic is predicted to be lighter."

The RAC has also asked motorists to carry out pre-drive checks before setting off on their journey as a vehicle breakdown could add to the queues.

Frances Read
Reporting from London's King's Cross Railway Station

In King's Cross station, passengers stand beside the Christmas tree waiting for their platform to be announced.

Many people here are trying to make their journey by train before the rail strikes get under way. They’re hoping by timing their travel early, they’ll miss the worst of any disruption.

Diamond Gunn, 29, and her husband are travelling back to Peterborough for Christmas.

“We decided to travel to Paris on Tuesday and then come back today so we can avoid the Christmas rush," she said.

"I’m glad we did because there was a long delay on our train... if we’d done it tomorrow we probably would have been stuck.”

But for families with younger children it’s been a particularly stressful ordeal to get from one end of the country to the other in time for Christmas.

Daniel Stannard, 44, is travelling with his kids Ethan and Wesley back up to Hull.

“We were worried at first... it’s definitely a concern, you keep looking at the board hoping it doesn’t get cancelled. It’s a bit stressful.”

Image source, EPA

A spokesman for the Department of Transport has urged unions to end pay disputes by returning to the negotiating table, adding that "the British public deserve better than to have their festive celebrations impacted by strikes".

Earlier, the general secretary of the PCS union, which represents Border Force staff striking today, himself urged the government to "get around the negotiating table" and make a new pay offer. Staff want a 10% rise, but the Home Office has offered them 2%.

The Department of Transport also issued a separate response to comments made by Mick Lynch, leader of the RMT union, earlier today, after he accused ministers of "abdicating their responsibility" to sort out the industrial unrest and claimed the government was blocking rail employers from making a deal.

RMT members will walk out tomorrow at 3pm, with the strike continuing until 06:00 GMT on 27 December.

A Department of Transport spokesman said: “Far from blocking a deal, the transport secretary and rail minister have facilitated talks and ensured a fair and reasonable offer was put forward, which the RMT rejected despite a significant number of members voting to accept."

Just under 64% of voting RMT members rejected the government's latest pay offer.

Rod Dennis, spokesperson for RAC Breakdown, says the organisation is anticipating 40% of Christmas getaway journeys to be "crammed" into today and tomorrow, with about eight million trips expected in total.

He said his message for drivers is simple: "Plan your trip, leave as early as you can in the morning to miss the worst of those queues and try to avoid the real pinch point of the motorway network, which are roads like the M25, the M60 and the M5."

He urged drivers to check their car oil coolant and tyres before setting off to reduce chances of breaking down.

He says lots of people will be doing last minute shopping, making roads extremely busy, and the added issue of rail strikes will make Christmas getaways difficult.

"Where people can't make those trips by rail they're turning to the roads instead and that's going to lead to an increase in traffic."

Everything from train services to postal deliveries and hospital care will face a fresh wave of disruption over the coming weeks as further strikes get underway.

Here's a look at who is striking on what dates, and why they're doing it:

• The Royal College of Nurses (RCN) has announced further strikes on 18 and 19 January over a pay dispute with the government
• Ambulance staff are to stage two further strikes on 11 and 23 January. The unions have asked for above-inflation pay rises
• Border Force staff have announced strikes from 23 to 26 December and 28 to 31 December over pay, pensions and jobs
• Postal workers are striking on 23 and 24 December over pay and proposed changes to working conditions, including compulsory Sunday working
• Bus drivers in south and west London are striking on 24, 27 and 31 December, with eight further strikes planned in January. The union is calling for a pay rise to reflect the higher cost of living
• Rail workers are holding strikes from 15:00 GMT on 24 December until 06:00 GMT on 27 December, as well as on the 3, 4, 6 and 7 January over pay

• Train drivers across 15 rail companies will stage a fresh strike on 5 January

• Another teachers' strike will take place in Scotland on 10 and 11 January. Staff are asking for a 10% increase for the lowest paid
• Driving examiners will hold rolling strikes until 16 January. The union is calling for a 10% pay rise, better pensions, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms

Read our full guide here.

Emma Simpson
Business correspondent

In a torrential rain a small group of posties are sheltering under umbrellas outside the Royal Mail Southwark and Rotherhithe Delivery Office.

"We're striking in the rain," they sing. Rival courier van drivers are tooting their horns in support.

They've had a visit from CWU General Secretary, Dave Ward, on his morning tour of picket lines.

He thanked them for their resilience and determination in this increasingly bitter dispute. And there appears to be no end in sight as more strike action is on the cards for 2023.

The gate for enquiries here is all locked up. One customer turned up for a collection unaware of the walkout. There won't be any regular mail deliveries now across the UK until 28 December.

NHS Providers - which represent trusts in England - has urged the government to engage in "serious talks" with unions to avoid "even more pressure" being put on the NHS, after ambulance workers announced two more strike dates in January.

In a statement, external, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said: "We've already seen significant disruption to patient services with thousands of appointments being rescheduled or cancelled, with the fallout from this week's strike action likely to be felt for days to come.

"And we know that ambulance staff don't want to be striking either, but feel driven to take this step."

She said the potential of further, pro-longed strike action by more health unions in January if talks don't take place is "incredibly worrying".

"There are no winners in this situation. Serious talks must take place between health ministers and unions – and fast," she said.

Laura Foster
Health correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Turning to the nurses' strikes briefly now, where the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has confirmed to the BBC that nurses in Scotland will be going on strike in the new year.

Nurses there didn't strike this month while members were considering an improved pay offer from the Scottish government - an offer they rejected on Wednesday.

The RCN says it will announce exact dates at the start of next month but it’s not yet decided if it will be the same dates that nurses walk out in England.

It comes after the Scottish government announced it would be implanting its pay offer which would see salaries of NHS workers go up by an average of 7.5%.

This pay will be backdated to April 2022. A spokesperson for the RCN said “our members will be very disappointed and really frustrated that [the Scottish Government] is imposing an offer that we’ve rejected. This is the second year in a row [this has happened].”

Earlier today, the RCN in England announced its members would be walking out on 18 and 19 January unless pay talks are opened.

Earlier today, the GMB union announced it was calling off an ambulance workers strike on 28 December and would instead schedule an extra day of strike action on 11 January to "allow people to enjoy Christmas".

Speaking about the decision, the general secretary of GMB, Rachel Harrison, told Radio 4's World at One: "We want to take the additional anxiety out of the festive period, but this is us saying to the government there will be more action in January, or February, or as long as this government allows this dispute to go on".

Asked how long she thought union members were likely to want to hold out for, Harrison said: "They're ready to stand strong on this issue.

"We believe industrial action is the only way to make this government talk to us," she stated, adding that the union is "very keen" to resolve the dispute.

As well as more strikes by ambulance staff, rail workers, nurses and postal staff in the new year, the UK is also facing the prospect of walkouts by teachers.

Another teachers' strike is already scheduled to take place in Scotland on 10 and 11 January. Schools were forced to closed during action in November and December.

Elsewhere in the UK, teachers are also considering industrial action over pay, with a decision expected in January.

Facing questions from teachers and parents, earlier this week Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said that teachers were in the top 10% of earners in some parts of the country.

Her comments drew criticism from some, with one teacher saying that the profession being one of the best-paid in the public sector was a "shameful" illustration of how poorly public servants were paid.

But are Keegan's claims correct?

The BBC's Lucy Gilder has been looking into this. She says that to be in the top 10% of earners across the country, a full-time employee would have to earn a monthly salary of at least £5,090, according to October 2022 estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), external. This would be more than £61,000 a year.

The average classroom teacher salary of about £39,000 would be a long way short of the top 10%.

Read more here

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Members of the UK Armed Forces who provide cover for striking public service workers during the Christmas period will receive extra bonus payments for every day they work, the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has announced.

More than 1,000 members of the military have been trained to cover a number of roles, including passport-checking and ambulance driving, a statement from the Ministry of Defence says, external.

Payments of £20 will be made to military personnel for every day they spend training or deployed between 19 December and 2 January, it adds.

"While the unions continue to hold our public services to ransom, it is only appropriate our people are compensated for having to go above and beyond their usual tasks at short notice," Wallace said.

Image source, PA Media

Earlier, we heard from Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS union.

He said the government had gone to a "huge expense" to train military personnel to fill in for striking Border Force staff.

"Our military should not be in our airports and they shouldn't be driving ambulances either," he told BBC's Breakfast programme.

"This is no solution to the problem. The military have had five days training. The staff they are replacing have months of training and will be years on the job training," he said.

It's easy for someone to wave travellers through passport control but that doesn't mean the job is being done properly, Serwotka says.

"They are there not just to check passports, but to detect any signs of problems, including the victims of people trafficking, people who are maybe trying to do things at our airports that they shouldn't be doing."

Chris Bell
BBC News

Jasmine O’Donoghue, 25, has been in Costa Rica to visit a handstand retreat and meditation centre since 16 November.

She is due to travel to Heathrow and on to Jersey, where she’s from, on Tuesday, but says she's been advised to change her flight due to the impact of the strikes on domestic transfers.

She says: "The day before yesterday I got an email from British Airways saying you can change your flight if you want.

"If your final destination is Heathrow then you will be fine. If you have a connecting international flight you will be fine. But if you have a connecting UK flight you might get affected a lot."

She has accommodation booked until the day she plans to leave, but says she isn't sure what to do afterwards.

"I haven’t tried to rebook anything," she says.

"I made some friends in the meditation centre but that’s six hours from where I am now. I’m waiting on people to get back to me before I can do anything."