To think they are insane to travel in this?

[hugsandpugs]

Booked onto a bus trip to Birmingham a couple of months back. Travelling from South Wales. Trip was planned for today, guessed it would be cancelled due to the red/yellow weather warnings.

Apparently though, the trip is still going ahead 😬🤷‍♀️ Honestly can’t understand how the bus company are still gonna risk driving in these conditions. I’ve said I’m not taking the risk and decided not to go. Yes it’s annoying that I’ll lose my money but I’d rather have my life especially with three young children who need me.

Would you have still gone on the trip? Or am I right in thinking the bus company should have cancelled and refunded everyone or given the option to reschedule?

A lot of the border looks amber, some is yellow, OP needs to check the map and not just assume Wales, got alert, red.

😂😂

Nah I'm not reading the whole thread I wanted to respond to your point about the bridges so I did I'm not going to scroll through the thread to see if someone else has also mentioned it. No point, you're not the OP and the bridges are irrelevant to the OPs post anyway

Where to begin.

I'm in Wolverhampton.

The weather here is foul today, OP you made the right decision.

A couple of local markets are closing, not Christmas markets just the ordinary ones.

Do you have a link to this no insurance or are you making it up as you go along

It’s not.

Plus the red warning looks to have been downgraded to orange.

because going over the bridges is the main way to get in and out of Wales, and they're currently closed due to extreme weather?

That's a rather southern-centric view.
But yeah, daft to go from south wales to Birmingham anytime today.

I'm just going to leave this here.

I'm from Cumbria

I will be travelling a short distance today, but looking at the list of closures, cancellations and disruption, I likely wouldn’t go that distance. It’ll take much longer, there will be delays etc. All it takes is a fallen tree. Once there you’ll be wet and miserable. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@RedRiverShore5 it may not technically be invalidated but many will use it as a get out clause if you have an accident. A quick google brings up a few examples.

A bit like how it's not illegal to drive through floodwater but if you do it and fuck your car up, they may not pay for any damage.

So it's not invalidated then

Might as well be invalidated if they aren't going to cover you though. Probably worth checking individual policies I guess.

I don't think insurance is invalidated. From the AA:

"Can I drive during a red weather warning?
Yes, you can drive during any weather warning, be it red, amber or yellow. But the aim is to make you aware of the risks and their likelihood so that you can plan ahead. Your insurance provider won't invalidate your policy just because you had to drive in heavy snow or strong winds. If your car is taxed, has a valid MOT and is insured, you're legal for being on the road".

But wouldn't an insurance company also seek to reduce the payout for any incident/damage by claiming contributory negligence on the part of the insured? They already do this anyway if they think your actions might have been part of the reason something happened or you did something that made the situation worse.

So if there's an official govt warning not to drive, but you do and there's an accident/vehicle damage during the trip, they might try to hold the insured people partly responsible for it. Or would they look to reduce compensation for passengers because they also should have known better than to travel when it's not absolutely necessary? Particularly in a bus which could be more vulnerable to the wind than a car. Insurance companies don't like paying out and driving during a red warning might give them an excuse.

https://www.theaa.com/car-insurance/advice/red-weather-warnings-and-driving

Exactly.

I wish people didn't just blithely post that insurance will be invalidated just because they think it should be, this also happens on the cars without MOT threads

This one shows the mountains. If you are not on a motorway then you are on country roads at least when you get to England.

www.worldatlas.com/maps/united-kingdom/wales

I was supposed to be going on a bus trip to London today from S Wales. That has been cancelled because of the weather.
I suppose Birmingham doesn't require you to go over either of the Severn bridges

You go up the M50 to Birmingham from south wales , you don't go over the bridges

Insurance isn't invalidated so it's legal to drive but they may not pay out as much (or at all) if there's an incident/damage. People have to decide for themselves how big the risk is and if it's worth it for the trip they want/need to make.

M50-M5 from Cardiff to Bham= no Severn Bridge.

Birmingham Xmas market is not closed today but it would be a miserable experience imo in this and I’d cancel the whole day too. It’s on until 24th OP :)

Why would you go over the bridges though to get from wales to Birmingham? They literally go in the opposite direction?!

Can I just raise another point? It isn't just getting to Brum, it is getting back home afterwards.

We are in Gloucestershire, travelling up to a family get together in Stafford today, not driving, booked on a train - if they are running. It's gusty winds and raining here, it's been booked for months so don't feel like we can back out. Hoping trains are running and it goes smoothly 🤞