Royal Mail has issued a delivery update alerting 142 UK postcode areas to disruptions affecting their post. The postal service has published a list of the impacted regions.
As of Thursday, 13 August, delays are affecting substantial portions of Wales, including Barry, Merthyr Tydfil and Carmarthen.
Royal Mail's statement on delays
Royal Mail said: "We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week. In a small number of local offices, this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors.
"In those cases, we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers. We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive."
The company added: "We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding."
Network performance and delivery times
Throughout the previous 24 hours, Royal Mail's air and road network ran to schedule. Yet, not all mail centres processed or dispatched in line with schedule.
Manchester Mail Centre reports that some post deposited in the BL, M, OL and SK postcode areas is destined for delivery elsewhere across the UK.
Royal Mail aims to deliver to addresses by 4.30pm every working day, namely Monday to Saturday. However, this does not apply in certain locations such as Scotland's Highlands and Islands, where "transport is limited."
Regarding Sunday and evening deliveries, Royal Mail said: "We also make some scheduled parcel deliveries later, which can include deliveries in the evening. These parcel deliveries can include Sundays with some geographical exceptions." The postal service confirmed that it does not "usually deliver on bank public and local holidays."
Full list of affected delivery offices
The affected delivery offices and their postcode areas are: Altens DO (AB10, AB11, AB12, AB35), Barry DO (CF63), Bedford MK40 DO (MK40-MK45), Blyth DO (NE24), Brierley Hill DO (DY5), Buckie DO (AB56), Burslem DO (ST6), Calderway DO (WF12-WF14), Carmarthen DO (SA17, SA31, SA32, SA33), Chester DO (CH1-CH4, CH88, CH99), Cullompton DO (EX15), Deal DO (CT14), Dudley DO (DY1-DY3), Ebbw Vale DO (NP23), Glaisdale Parkway DO (NG7, NG8), Glossop DO (SK13), Gosforth DO (NE3, NE13), Harehills DO (LS8), Heswall DO (CH31, CH60, CH61), Houghton Le Spring DO (DH4, DH5), Hoylake DO (CH47, CH48), Huntingdon DO (PE26-PE29), Ilfracombe DO (EX34), Inverclyde DO (PA14-PA19), Llangefni DO (LL62-LL78), Lutterworth DO (LE9, LE17), Kingswood DO (BS15, BS30), Margate DO (CT7-CT9), Merthyr Tydfil DO (CF47, CF48), Milton Keynes Kiln Farm DO (MK8, MK11-MK14, MK19), Mold DO (CH7), Mumbles DO (SA3), New Ferry DO (CH32, CH62, CH63), Newton Le Willows DO (WA3, WA12), Nuneaton DO (CV10, CV11, CV13), Pontefract DO (WF7-WF9, WF11), Rugby DO (CV21-CV23), Rugeley DO (WS15), Shrewsbury DO (SY1-SY5), Southam DO (CV47), Staines DO (TW18, TW19, TW20), Swindon DO (SN1, SN2, SN3, SN6, SN25, SN26, SN38, SN99), Torpoint DO (PL10, PL11), Warrington DO (WA1, WA2, WA4, WA5, WA55), Wednesbury DO (WS10), Weston Super Mare DO (BS22, BS23, BS24, BS40), Wilmslow DO (SK9), Witham DO (CM8), Wolverhampton DO (WV1-WV5, WV10, WV13, WV14), Wolverhampton NE DO (WV11, WV12), and Woolton DO (L25-L27).
