We wrote to you on 7 January 2026, and subsequently again on 25 February, informing you about two severe cold weather events across various regions of the UK during January 2026, which constituted a Disruptive Event under the Access Letters Contract (ALC) and Wholesale Parcels Contract (WPC), impacting on Royal Mail’s ability to meet some of its obligations to you in our ALC and WPC.

In particular, travel disruption (i.e. adverse driving and walking conditions) affected our team’s ability to travel to work and to carry out delivery rounds in certain localities, which impacted our ability to deliver all Mailing Items in line with the timescales specified in the ALC (i.e. D+3 for standard letters) and the WPC (i.e. D+2 for parcels). We acknowledge that weather conditions can change quickly, and we undertake risk assessments throughout the day to ensure we are doing all we can to continue providing our services, whilst also ensuring our people’s health and safety is put first. 

I can confirm that in respect of the Disruptive Event which we communicated on 7 January, the impact of the adverse weather at some offices continued to be felt until 23 January and in respect of the Disruptive Event communicated on 25 February, the impact was felt until 1 February.

Based on an assessment of available data from the sites which reported being impacted by the adverse weather, we estimate that, at a national level, Access Standard quality of service in January was adversely impacted overall by 3.3%.