Two-mile queues and severe delays towards Dartford crossing from south Essex
Severe traffic is piling up between J29 A127 Southend Arterial Road with average speeds of 15-miles-per-hour, with speeds decreasing towards Dartford Crossing.
Reports indicate delays are increasing as more vehicles join the queues throughout rush hour this morning with drivers warned to expect significant delays.
M25 clockwise – slow traffic from before J30 (A13) to the QE2 Bridge. pic.twitter.com/SwEzJhFHWA
— Essex Travel News (@Essex_Travel) July 1, 2025
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Heathrow fires: What caused the substation blaze which led to travel chaos
A review into the Heathrow fire that prompted widespread airport chaos earlier this year has been released with its conclusions regarding the serious incident. In March 2025, thousands of passengers were stranded at Heathrow and other airports worldwide after a nearby substation fire at the London airport that left it without electricity. More than 270,000 passengers were impacted by the disaster, with planes grounded and airlines reportedly losing millions of pounds due to the incident, which is thought to be the worst delay experienced at the airport since 2010 when snow forced it to close. Now, a report by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) has laid bare more details about what exactly went wrong. It's also prompted Ofgem to launch its own investigation into what it believes was a 'preventable technical fault' in the National Grid. So what do we know? On March 21, a fire at an electrical substation several miles away from London's busiest terminals led to power being cut across the airport. Reports at the time claim that 70 firefighters rushed to the scene of the fire, which took several hours to be safely extinguished. It wasn't clear initially what had caused the fire, but experts later ruled out foul play. However, it led to Heathrow remaining closed throughout Friday, impacting hundreds of thousands of passengers and leaving thousands of tonnes of cargo stranded. At the time, Heathrow's CEO Thomas Woldbye reportedly turned his phone on silent and went to bed on the night of the shutdown, a move that he was later heavily criticised for. Although some flights started to resume late on the Friday, regular services didn't fully resume until around two days after the incident. This prompted initial concerns about how resilient airport operations were to withstanding such incidents in the future. According to NESO, the fire was caused by a 'catastrophic' failure of a crucial electricity substation component. The report revealed this was linked to moisture entering the substation component, which is believed to have been preventable. 'This review has seen evidence that a catastrophic failure on one of the transformer's high voltage bushings at National Grid Electricity Transmission's 275kV substation in Hayes caused the transformer to catch fire,' Wednesday's review revealed. 'This was most likely caused by moisture entering the bushing, causing an electrical fault.' The report suggests that the electricity may have 'arced' and triggered an ignition in the oil, which prompted the wider fire. Findings also suggest that moisture had been detected in oil samples as early as 2018, 'but mitigating actions appropriate to its severity were not implemented.' Following the release of the report, a Heathrow spokesperson said: 'A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid's failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.' According to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband: 'The report is deeply concerning, because known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission, and Ofgem has now opened an official enforcement investigation to consider any possible licence breaches relating to the development and maintenance of its electricity system at North Hyde. Heathrow bosses came under fire following the incident, largely over questions about the airport's energy resilience. Some experts had reportedly warned airport bosses prior to the incident that such risks existed. There were also concerns about how an airport such as Heathrow could respond if there was a national security incident in the future. 'If one fire can shut down Heathrow's primary systems ... it tells you something's badly wrong with our system of management of such disasters,' Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, told AP at the time.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Are you traveling for the Fourth of July? Here's when traffic will be at its worst
Tens of millions of people will hit the road to travel domestically for the Fourth of July this year — so if you're one of them, you might want to plan ahead to avoid traffic. Between June 28 and July 6, a record 72.2 million people nationwide are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home, according to AAA projections. That's an increase of 1.7 million travelers from 2024. Nearly 62 million of those people will be traveling by car. If you're planning a July 4 road trip, here are the peak congestion times to avoid, including the worst times to travel to and from Wisconsin: AAA compiled data from INRIX, a transportation analytics company, on the best and worst times to travel by car during the Fourth of July weekend. Generally, the company found that setting out in the morning is your best chance to beat the traffic. Here are the best times to travel during the holiday: Saturday, June 28: Before 10 a.m. Sunday, June 29: Before 11 a.m. Monday, June 30: Before noon Tuesday, July 1: Before 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 2: Before noon Thursday, July 3: Before noon Friday, July 4: Before noon Saturday, July 5: Before 11 a.m. Sunday, July 6: Before 11 a.m. INRIX predicted that July 2 and July 6 will be the most congested days on the roads as people head to and from their destinations. The afternoons will see the worst traffic, particularly on those two days. Here are the worst times to travel during the July 4 weekend: Saturday, June 28: Between noon and 5 p.m. Sunday, June 29: Between 2 and 4 p.m. Monday, June 30: Between 2 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 1: Between 3 and 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 2: Between noon and 9 p.m. Thursday, July 3: Between 2 and 6 p.m. Friday, July 4: Between noon and 7 p.m. Saturday, July 5: Between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, July 6: Between noon and 6 p.m. Here are the peak congestion times if you're traveling to and from Wisconsin during the holiday weekend. Milwaukee to Chicago: Traveling from Milwaukee to Chicago, peak congestion will be on eastbound Interstate 94 on Sunday, July 6, at 2:30 p.m. INRIX did not provide data on travel from Chicago to Milwaukee. Eau Claire to Minneapolis: Peak congestion traveling from Minneapolis to Eau Claire will be on eastbound I-94 on Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m. Traveling from Eau Claire back to Minneapolis, peak congestion will be on westbound I-94 on Sunday, July 6, at 3:45 p.m. More: July 4 events in the Milwaukee area in 2025: Fireworks, parade times, things to do More: When Milwaukee tried to make 4th of July celebrations 'Safe and Sane' to save lives This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Fourth of July traffic in Wisconsin: The best and worst travel times
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Win two tickets to The 153rd Open Open with Tourism Northern Ireland
Belfast Live has teamed up with Tourism Northern Ireland to offer one lucky winner a pair of tickets to The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush Golf Club on Thursday, 17th July. The 153rd Open, taking place from July 13-20, will see Northern Ireland's Masters and Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy aim to win the Claret Jug on his home turf while Shane Lowry will be aiming to seal back-to-back victories at Royal Portrush after his success at The 148th Open in 2019. To enter simply tell us the name of the reigning Masters Champion in the form below and fill out your details. The competition closes on Thursday 10th July. If you can't view the form click here. Full Terms & Conditions here. As well as two of the top ten ranked courses internationally - at Royal County Down and Royal Portrush - Northern Ireland boasts a rich golfing history and a range of spectacular courses for visitors to choose from. With over 90 courses on offer, a perfect blend of links and parkland, golfers and visitors alike can enjoy the tremendous offering no matter where they choose to stay. To plan your next break and discover just why Northern Ireland is made for golf visit For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
