Passengers look at the train schedules as rail workers stage a strike in the Euston station in London. AP

Gulf Today Report

For thousands of people living in the UK, it is going to be a terrible Christmas. Their festive plans are likely to be put in cold storage amid the heat of angry unions in medical, rail and ambulance sectors among other areas, badly scuppering services in the process.

100,000 nurses and 10,000 ambulance workers are stopping work, while thousands of commuters have been badly affected as the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers body started a two-day agitation. The RMT will be staging a 48-hour nationwide strike next week too.

Rush-hour office workers, already struck by snow and freezing conditions, had an awful time getting to work on Tuesday.

Picket lines appeared at major stations, with people told to travel only if necessary.

Trains will operate from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm local time, with services cut to 20%.

Hospitals across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are cancelling thousands of operations and appointments. The government’s last-minute talks over pay hikes have not been able to prevent a strike by 100,000 nurses, which starts tomorrow, on Thursday. The strikes do not affect Scotland.

 Photo used for illustrative purposes only.

That’s not all, an estimated 10,000 ambulance workers are scheduled to strike work on December 21 over the same issue.

There is more trouble on the anvil. Driving examiners in parts of the UK are putting the brakes on duty for the rest of the week. Postal workers start their latest two-day stoppage on Wednesday. Civil servants and Border Force officials are also likely to take action on the same lines.

Where health services are concerned, thousands of members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are expected to stop work with surgery being limited to cancer patients and emergencies.

What is alarming is that there are 7 million patients awaiting treatment.

Health secretary Steve Barclay refused to discuss salary increases with Royal College of Nursing (RCN)chief executive Pat Cullen.

Nurses, said Cullen, are not getting an extra penny.

One official told The Independent that clinics and less urgent operations planned for Thursday have already been postponed, but that more may be cancelled on the day.

According to one National Health Service source, the service is likely to have to call off 4,000 appointments and 300 operations to maintain a “safe” level of care.

Soldiers have been roped in for damage control. They are preparing to man passport booths in airports and drive ambulances to fill the gaps.

The government may book taxis on a mass scale, on the days of the ambulance workers’ strikes, so that patients with less serious conditions can be taken to hospital.

The strikes do not impact Scotland. Ambulance staff and NHS workers in Scotland cancelled planned strikes after members of two healthcare unions accepted an offer of pay rises of up to £2,751.