Rush-hour commuters in the UK faced a battle to get to work on Tuesday as thousands of rail workers launched a two-day strike as part of a wave of industrial action planned for the festive period.
Travellers in many parts of the country, including London, have already been hit by snow and freezing conditions and now face further disruption due to the strikes called by Britain's largest rail union.
Picket lines appeared at major stations on Tuesday to kick off a month of action, with people advised only to travel if essential.
Trains are only running from 7:30am, local time, to 6:30pm on strike days, with around 20% of services expected to run.
The latest round of rail strikes comes as the UK is experiencing a wave of industrial action on a scale not seen since the 1980s, fuelled by energy and food price hikes.
Those striking include nurses, postal workers and border force officials.
The rail strikes will be held over two 48-hour periods this week, from Tuesday to Wednesday and from Friday to Saturday.
Britain's Rail, Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT) plans further strikes over Christmas and in early January.
Its members on Monday rejected a pay offer from Network Rail, the owner of Britain's railway infrastructure, leading its staff, along with workers from 14 train companies, to walk out.
Network Rail had offered its workers a pay rise of 5% backdated for this year and a further 4% at the start of 2023.
The RMT union confirmed on Monday that its members had voted to reject this latest offer and would go ahead with strikes.
RMT's general secretary Mick Lynch said: "This is a huge rejection of Network Rail's substandard offer."
The RMT said the pay offer was tied to "thousands of job losses" as well as an increase in unsocial hours.
