Monday is the first time since many people returned to work after a Christmas break that most rail services will return to normal.

But one train operator, Chiltern Railways, is still warning passengers to expect disruption.

The main strike action on Monday is by driving examiners.

Looking ahead, ambulance workers in England and Wales will strike for 24 hours on Wednesday.

Some bus drivers, and teachers in Scotland, will also strike this week.

We’ll bring you another update on Tuesday to explain how these may affect you.

You can read more or watch this report about why people are taking strike action, and below you can find information on how it could affect you.

When Andy Smith moved from the Lincolnshire countryside where he grew up, to Rotherham, he immediately longed for a return to his rural life.

“For the first 24 years of my life I lived in a village, and living in a town is a big difference,” said 37-year-old Smith, who was born in Saxilby. “It made me miss village life. So I thought, how can I combine the missing of village life with my passion for geography?”

His answer was to launch a lifelong quest to visit all 10,449 civil parishes in England, documenting his travels via a YouTube channel under a new name – The Village Idiot.

“I’ve done 332 so far, but my enthusiasm is not going to waver, I’ll say that much,” said Smith. “It’s probably going to take me the best part of 25 to 30 years to do it. But as long as I’ve got that enthusiasm, I’m going to just keep pushing and pushing.”

Smith, who also works as a Hermes delivery driver, usually spends three days a week travelling to different parishes, and puts out a new video about a parish every day.

The Indian virus variant could pose “serious disruption” to lockdown easing in England on 21 June, the PM says.

Boris Johnson said if it was found to be “significantly” more transmissible there could be “some hard choices”.

The wait between jabs will be cut from 12 weeks to eight for the over-50s and clinically vulnerable because of concern over the variant, he added.

Cases of the Indian coronavirus variant have nearly tripled in the past week, Public Health England figures show.

Surge testing is already taking place in 15 areas across England, including Bolton, Blackburn, London, Sefton and Nottingham.

According to Friday’s government figures, a further 17 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive test and another 2,193 coronavirus cases have been recorded.

Speaking at a Downing Street briefing alongside the UK’s chief medical adviser, Prof Chris Whitty, Mr Johnson said first Covid vaccine doses will also be prioritised “for anyone eligible who has not yet come forward”. Currently, England’s vaccination rollout is open to people over the age of 38.

The prime minister said he did not believe that the “present evidence” showed a need to delay the next stage in the easing of lockdown in England on Monday – when pubs and restaurants will be allowed to serve customers indoors and six people or two households can meet in a private home.

The Scottish government has urged people to stop travelling to the Highlands and Islands in a bid to avoid coronavirus, following reports of an influx of self-isolators and people in camper vans travelling to the area in recent days.

In a strongly worded statement issued on Saturday night, Holyrood’s rural economy and tourism secretary, Fergus Ewing, described himself as “furious” at such irresponsible behaviour and warned that he would discuss with ferry operators and other agencies whether further restrictive measures were needed to halt the inundation.

Ewing, the MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said: “I am furious at the reckless and irresponsible behaviour of some people travelling to the Highland and Islands. This has to stop now. Let me be crystal clear – people should not be travelling to rural and island communities, full stop. They are endangering lives. Do not travel.”

He added: “Panic buying will have a devastating impact on the livelihoods of rural shops and potentially puts unwanted pressure on NHS services in our rural communities. The Scottish government’s advice is that essential travel only should be undertaken.”