Service Update

Royal Mail operates an air and road network to move letters and parcels between our distribution hubs, mail processing centres and delivery offices around the UK. Here we let you know about any significant issues in our logistics operation.

Air
Our air network operated to schedule over the past 24-hours, with the following exception: A flight from East Midlands airport to Aberdeen airport was cancelled due to adverse weather. Mail was transferred via contingency services and as a result, some mail posted yesterday in the Midlands, southwest and north of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, due for delivery today in northeast Scotland, Orkney and Shetlands, may arrive later than planned.

Road
Our road network operated to schedule over the past 24-hours, with the following exceptions: Last night, technical issues at our Princess Royal Distribution Centre (London) delayed the departure of vehicles travelling to our Chelmsford, Swindon and Twickenham Mail Centres. As a result, some mail posted yesterday in London and the southeast, due for delivery today in the CM, SN and TW postcode areas, may arrive later than expected.

Early this morning, technical issues at our Midlands Hub delayed the departure of a vehicle travelling to our Truro Mail Centre. As a result, some mail posted yesterday in other parts of the UK, due for delivery today in the TR postcode area, may arrive later than planned.
 

Mail Centres
The mail centres below reported not all mail was processed or despatched to schedule over the last 24-hours. As a result, some mail may be delivered later than planned.

• Birmingham: Some mail posted yesterday in the B, HR and WR postcode areas, due for delivery today in other parts of the UK.
• Chelmsford: Some mail posted yesterday in the CM, CO, IP and SS postcode areas, due for delivery today in other parts of the UK.
• Swindon: Some mail posted yesterday in the OX, RG and SN postcode areas, due for delivery today in other parts of the UK.

We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week. In a small number of local offices, this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors. In those cases, we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers. We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive.

We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. We will regularly update customers on the offices most impacted here:

• Debden DO (IG7, IG8, IG9 and IG10)
• Feltham DO (TW13 and TW14)
• Hockley SS DO (SS5)
• Londonderry DO (BT47, BT48)
• Selsey SUDO (PO20) 
• Sunbury On Thames DO (TW16)
• Tipton DO (DY4) 
• Wellingborough DO (NN8, NN9 and NN29)
• Whitehaven DO (CA18, CA19, CA20, CA26 and CA28)

If you need to collect an item for which we've left a 'Something for You' card, please check royalmail.com/services-near-you for details of our Customer Service Point locations and opening hours.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for snow on Tuesday, 6 January 2026.

Due to the impact of the adverse weather conditions, there may be some disruption to mail delivery, collection, and distribution. To ensure our people's and customers' safety, severe weather risk assessments will be conducted based on local knowledge. Although we will strive to maintain our services in areas where it is safe to do so, the safety of our people is our top priority.

The Met Office has issued an amber warning, which covers parts of the following areas from 11 am to 7 pm on Tuesday, 6 January 2026.

Central, Tayside & Fife
•    Angus (DD)
•    Perth and Kinross (PH)

Grampian
•    Aberdeen (AB)
•    Aberdeenshire (AB)
•    Moray (AB)

Highlands & Eilean Siar
•    Highland (IV)

The following areas are also affected by the severe weather: 

Ashington (NE22, NE62, NE63, NE64), Bodmin (PL30), Brechin (DD9), Bridlington (YO15, YO16), Buxton (SK17, SK22, SK23), Congelton (CW4, CW12), Crew (CW1, CW2, CW3), Grimsby (DN31 - DN37), Horncastle (LN9, LN10), Hull (HU1, HU2, HU3, HU5, HU9, HU12, HU19), Kyle (IV40, IV41, IV44, IV45, IV46, IV52, IV53), Lerwick (ZE), Macclesfield (SK10, SK11), Malton (YO17), Marple (SK6, SK12), Montrose (DD10), Nantwich (CW5), Newcastle Under Lyme (ST5, ST55), Northfield (B31), Northwich (CW8, CW9), Orkney, Kirkwall, Stromness (KW15, KW16, KW17), Plympton (PL7), Porthmadog (LL46, LL47, LL48, LL49, LL51, LL52), Rednal (B45, B48), Sandbach (CW11), Scarborough (YO11, YO12, YO13, YO14), Tarporley (CW6), Warrington (WA1, WA2, WA4, WA5, WA55), Whitby (YO21, YO22), Winsford (CW7, CW10).

Please note, this list is not exhaustive, and other areas may be affected by the weather warning. It is always best to check the Met Office website for the latest information.

How does the weather affect my deliveries? 

When there is severe weather - such as significant snowfall, icy conditions or localised flooding - your street or some of the roads on route to your address may become too dangerous to access. We will always make every attempt to get your mail to you daily, if it’s safe for us to do so. Our postmen and women may start their rounds but are unable to finish them because of issues along the way. Conditions can improve or deteriorate quickly, so we undertake risk assessments throughout the day to ensure we’re doing all we can to get to as many addresses as possible. And we always work hard to return to full services as quickly as it’s safe for us to do so. 

Will my business mail be collected today? 

If we think there’s anything that may prevent us from collecting your business mail – whether that’s due to resourcing issues, severe weather or unplanned road closures - we’ll make every effort to let you know. This could be by telephone from one of our local collection managers, or an email from our Customer Service Team. We’ll get in touch even if we can’t say for certain if we’ll get to you or not as the disruptive issues continue to change, because we know how important it is that you have information so you can plan. Every effort is made to be there for you and to ensure we let you know if there’s a chance we won’t be.  

Public and local holidays

We deliver and collect your mail on most days of the year, including Saturdays. However, we don’t usually deliver or collect on public or local holidays. (Please note: Local holidays are subject to change).

Please use the links below to see the public and local holidays and how they will affect our services.

England and Wales 2025

Northern Ireland 2025 

Scotland 2025

England and Wales 2026

Northern Ireland 2026 

Scotland 2026

England and Wales 2025

Northern Ireland 2025

Scotland 2025 

England and Wales 2026

Northern Ireland 2026

Scotland 2026 

Please note: Local Holiday dates in Scotland will be confirmed at a later date and added to this page.

To find out about the latest incidents affecting post across the world, please visit our International Incident Bulletin page.

Customers sending items requiring a customs declaration (such as goods or gifts) internationally are asked to purchase postage online, through shipping solutions or over the counter at Post Office branches. Items using stamps must be posted at a Post Office branch in order to fulfil customs requirements. Franking machine customers posting goods must use the franking machine API to complete customs declarations and produce the CN22. 

In addition to the Tracking information available through the Royal Mail website, senders and recipients may be able to access additional tracking information on the destination posts webpages.

Keep up to date with information about Royal Mail services in your local area. Sign-up  to receive our service alerts.