Certain railway lines and buses in London will be affected by strikes today (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

Christmas celebrations may be over but strikes are set to push their way into the New Year.

December 27 is usually the day public transport starts returning to its usual timetable, after a few days of slowing down for Christmas.

But this year, the 27th has coincided with the fourth consecutive day in the current round of rail and bus strikes.

Network Rail workers who are part of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) walked out at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

Fortunately, the industrial action ended at 6am this morning, meaning the schedule should be looking more normal for the rest of the day.

But industrial action often has knock-on effects into the days afterwards, so you should still check your journeys.

Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) members are also walking out today, tomorrow and December 29.

This means West Midlands Railway Services will not operate at all, with Avanti West Coast warning travellers to only travel if necessary.

National Rail strikes ended at 6am this morning (Picture: PA)

Bus drivers are also walking out today, with all routes run by Abellio affected.

Transport for London has advised those in the capital to plan their journeys.

It was thought that December’s rail strikes could be called off after Rail Delivery Group (RDG) held talks with RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers).

However, RMT boss Mick Lynch announced on December 4 he had rejected the RDG’s offer of a 4% pay rise for 2022 and 2023 ‘as it does not meet any of our criteria for securing a settlement on long term job security, a decent pay rise and protecting working conditions’.

The RMT leader has now requested a meeting with prime minister Rishi Sunak in an open letter stating: ‘it is now clear to my union and the wider public that No. 10 is directing the mandate for the rail companies and has torpedoed the talks.’

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Border Force staff belonging to the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) are taking part in strike action over eight days of the festive period.

Border Force staff belonging to the PCS union are taking industrial action in a pay dispute with the government (File image by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

The Army has been drafted in to cover Border Force strikes (Picture: SWNS)

Six airports across the country are affected.

Army personnel and government staff will be drafted in to check passports at arrivals halls during further walkouts ahead of New Year’s Eve.

Travellers were warned to brace themselves for delays amid fears the walkout of 1,000 staff working in passport booths could lead to long queues, people being held on planes and late departures.

But the use of military personnel trained to check passports appeared to have prevented them.

A Gatwick spokesperson said on Friday: ‘Everything is going okay at the moment.

‘There’s plenty of staff. The e-gates are all operating. It’s going well. There’s no delays as far as we’re aware, and no queues at the moment.

‘I’m standing in arrivals and passengers are flowing through as normal.’

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Travel is possible today but you should check your journeys first.