Royal Mail tackles snow with emergency rounds
Royal Mail will deliver up to 7,000 rounds this Sunday (19 December) as severe weather returns to the UK. The operator has put contingency plans in place, with snow and ice expected to hamper essential services across the UK.
The move follows Royal Mail’s announcement on Monday (13 December) that it has invested £20m in a range of measures to tackle the impact on deliveries of the coldest December in almost 30 years.
In the UK, areas in Scotland and north-east England have been worst hit.
Royal Mail is also asking customers to help postmen and women deliver in time for Christmas by placing orders and posting gifts and cards as soon as possible.
Up to 7,000 delivery rounds serving more than one million homes and addresses are planned for Sunday.
Royal Mail said the additional rounds will help deliver packets and letters to those areas that have already been affected by the weather, and give consumers in less impacted areas a second chance to receive items at their home if they were not in when delivery was first attempted.
Mark Higson, managing director of Royal Mail, said: “This is already the worst December weather the UK has seen for almost 30 years. We are planning up 7,000 delivery rounds this Sunday as we continue our drive to deliver items as quickly as possible.
“Like other essential services, we have faced major difficulties with items moving in and out of areas most impacted by the snow and ice, particularly Scotland and the north-east of England. We will continue to do everything in our power to deliver as quickly as possible.”
Royal Mail’s additional £20m investment for the remainder of the month includes: the recruitment of up to 3,000 more people; approximately 6,500 extra deliveries (primarily packets) last Sunday in the areas most affected by the severe weather, delivering to around one million addresses; an additional 500 professional HGV drivers; an extra 250 large lorries; and the activation of seven more operational centres on top of the 24 already in use.
