The Telegraph has an excellent article highlighting the best routes by air, rail, and ferry to Sain for 2010, and explains how to save money on car hire. With more and more flights getting cut, and ferry services scheduled to stop later in the year this is a pretty comprehensive guide.

Unfortunatley it doesn’t say if flights are winter, winter and summer, or just summer but it does list the web sites and phone numbers for the various companies.

Freezing weather is causing disruption to Britain’s roads, railways and airports.

ROADS

M25 Hertfordshire | Clockwise | Accident, 2 lanes closed, congestion – Delays of 20 minutes between J17 and J19 caused by congestion due to an accident closing two lanes between J19 and J20.

A5 Warwickshire | Northbound | Heavy traffic – Delays of 15 minutes from Harpenden towards Cannock, between junctions with the M69 and the A47 Hinckley, due to heavy traffic.

A consortium led by Portuguese motorway company Brisa has won the bid for the construction of the first section of bullet train lines between Lisbon and Madrid, the Portuguese government announced Saturday.

The consortium, which includes Spanish group Iridium, bid to construct the 167-kilometre (104-mile) link in Portugal for EUR 1.36 billion (USD 1.98 billion) with annual maintenance at EUR 12.2 million, it said.

It will have the concession for 40 years.

It will mean constructing a 7km tunnel through the mountains

It’s been confirmed by La Verdad newspaper that the Development Ministry has accepted the route supported by the Murcia Region for the high speed rail link between Murcia City and Cartagena. It’s the shortest of the routes proposed and also means that the line will be able to connect with the new international airport planned at Corvera.

23,000 passengers were affected by delays and cuts in service

Renfe Spanish railways some 23,000 passengers suffered delays and cuts in service after flooding on the high speed line linking Madrid with southern Spain on Monday night. Flood damage on the AVE tracks in La Sagra, Toledo, meant the AVE trains were unable to operate between Toledo and the Spanish capital for almost 20 hours, until one of the lines was reopened on Tuesday afternoon.

Train travel on the high-speed rail link between Madrid and Seville in the south was disrupted Tuesday due to heavy rains in central Spain, national railway infrastructure company ADIF said.

Use of link — which also services tourist centres like Cordoba and Malaga on the coast — was suspended at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Monday, it said in a statement.

Normal rail traffic on the line was expected to resume later on Tuesday. In the meantime passengers were being transported by bus.

High speed rail is set to replace short haul flights as all three parties united in backing a 250mph network linking major cities across the country.

The network would also mean cities in north west Europe would be a train – rather than plane – journey away.

Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, gave his clearest endorsement yet of the Government’s belief that high speed rail should be seen as an alternative to the plane.

It will cut journey time between the two cities to one hour and 35 minutes

The AVE high speed train link between Madrid and Valencia will be operational at the end of next year, when the journey will be completed in one hour and 35 minutes. The announcement came from Development Minister, José Blanco, and the Valencia President, Francisco Camps, who held a joint press conference following a meeting in Madrid this Tuesday.

The convoy suffered a total electrical breakdown

A newly born baby was evacuated by ambulance when the 1-45pm AVE high speed train from Sevilla, destination Madrid, suffered a technical breakdown some 20kms from Córdoba station.

The passengers were then subjected to a two hour rescue operation in temperatures of 39 degrees and with no working air-conditioning in the carriages. During their wait they were allowed out on to the track and given refreshments, but it was decided that such conditions were not appropriate for the baby.