Train passengers making journeys before Christmas are being warned that some services have been reduced.

圣诞期间想要乘火车旅行的乘客将面临某些车次停运的问题。

First Capital Connect, Chiltern and Merseyrail are likely to cut up to 25% of their services on Christmas Eve.

And roads around the country are expected to be busy again as traffic builds during the festive¹ getaway（起步，逃走） .

Heavy snow is predicted to fall in north-east England on Friday, as well as northern and eastern Scotland, creating treacherous²（奸诈的，危险的） conditions.

Further heavy snow may return to the UK on Boxing Day, forecasters say.

Reservation warning

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) said the reduced rail timetables would ensure scheduled services were able to run on time.

An Atoc spokeswoman said many of the train timetable alterations³ were "tweaks（扭，拧） ", and that many affected⁴ services were commuter⁵ lines that were not expected to be busy.

She also said that services were expected to run at a similar level "at the moment".

"We understand passengers' frustration⁶ when there is disruption and apologise to anyone caught up in it," she added.

But Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, warned people to expect packed trains on Christmas Eve as millions of Britons made trips for Christmas.

He told the Daily Telegraph: "Passengers should make sure they make a seat reservation（预约，保留） to avoid the risk of having to stand for their entire journey or be turned away as carriages will be full."

Cancellations are expected across the much of the rail network on Friday.

Airport backlog⁷

Train punctuality（严守时间） fell during the first bout⁸ of bad weather this winter, according to Network Rail figures.

They showed that 81.7% of trains ran on time in the period from 14 November to 11 December 2010 compared with 89.4% in the same period in 2009.

The punctuality of some train companies fell to about 70% in the early winter 2010 period, but Chiltern Railways managed to run 94.4% of trains on time, making it the best-performing company.

The poorest-performing company in this year's early winter period was West Coast operator Virgin⁹ Trains, with punctuality falling from 83.6% to 70.4%.

As UK airports return to normal and continue to clear a backlog of flights, more snowfall has caused chaos¹⁰ at airports in Ireland and France.

Some 40,000 travellers have been stranded¹¹（搁浅） after Dublin airport closed on Thursday because of heavy snow falls and Northern Irish airports are all operating with delays .

In France, half of all flights in and out of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris have been cancelled until Friday afternoon because of the freezing conditions.