Royal Mail shares service update as 7 postcodes face severe delays

The Christmas rush has come and gone, but Royal Mail continues to process large post volumes through its national and international networks.

Royal Mail is responsible for mail collection and delivery services throughout the UK as the nation’s flagship postal carrier.

It moves letters and parcels through air, rail, and road networks between distribution hubs, mail processing centres, and delivery offices around the UK. It aims to deliver to all addresses it has mail for, six days a week.

However, Royal Mail has issued an urgent warning to Britons in seven postcodes, who may experience severe delays due to local issues and weather warnings in parts of the country.

It comes just one day before the postal service prepares to cease deliveries for 24 hours on January 1 to acknowledge the New Year’s Day Bank Holiday.

A fresh update from Royal Mail stated that its air, road and rail network services operated to schedule over the last 24 hours, but there were some delays in the Bristol mail centre.

Royal Mail said letters and parcels posted in four Bristol postcode areas yesterday, due for delivery today in other parts of the UK, “may be delivered later than planned”. The affected postcode areas are Bristol BA, BS, GL, and TA.

Elsewhere in the UK, local issues such as high sick absence levels, resourcing, or other local factors may prevent deliveries as usual.

Postcodes affected by such issues today, Tuesday, December 31, include those served by the Canterbury Delivery Office (CT1 TO CT6 postcode areas).

Postcodes in Scotland may also have to wait longer than usual for deliveries after an amber weather warning for heavy rain in Northern Scotland.

The Met Office alert means some mail delivery, collection, and distribution disruption may occur. A Royal Mail statement read: “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 amber warning covers the Highland and Moray (IV postcode areas) between 12am and 5pm on Tuesday, 31 December.

Royal Mail customers in Scotland may have to wait until January 3 to receive delayed post due to two national Bank Holidays in Scotland.

The postal service offers “no collections or deliveries” on local holidays, including New Year’s Day (Wednesday, January 1, 2025). This applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

A second Bank Holiday in Scotland will occur on Thursday, January 2, 2025. Royal Mail will not collect or deliver goods for two consecutive days.

Normal services will resume on Thursday, January 2, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, Royal Mail will continue to deliver as normal in Scotland from Friday, January 3.