Travel News — week of 27 August 2026

Standfirst: A typhoon has put three of our ten destinations on the same warning map in a single week. Behind it, a Spanish airport strike is getting worse rather than better, a Canadian state of emergency is about to lapse or be renewed, and a Japanese railway line is still broken. Here is what actually changes your plans.

Great Wide Open’s Travel News covers developments with a real, practical consequence for travellers from the United Kingdom heading to our ten destinations: Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain and the United States. We report entry rules, disruption, safety and cost — not marketing. Where an official body is the authority on a question, we say what that body says, and we link to it.

What matters this week

Typhoon Saudel dominates. It hit Okinawa on Tuesday and Wednesday, grounding hundreds of flights, and is crossing the East China Sea toward mainland China with Hong Kong in its forecast range by Saturday. Flying to Japan, China or Hong Kong before the weekend? Check your flight before you leave for the airport. Elsewhere: Barcelona’s baggage handlers are still out, British Columbia is still under a state of emergency, and southern Kyushu still has no through train.

At a glance

Development	Who it affects	What to do
Typhoon Saudel crossing the East China Sea	Anyone flying to or within Japan, China or Hong Kong before Sunday	Check your flight status directly with the airline before travelling to the airport
Barcelona–El Prat ground-handling strike, fourth week	Anyone flying through Barcelona	Travel with hand luggage only if you can. Allow far longer than usual
British Columbia state of emergency, due to expire Saturday	Anyone travelling in the BC interior or the Okanagan	Check EmergencyInfoBC for orders and alerts before you drive
Kyushu Shinkansen still severed at Kumamoto	Anyone using a rail pass in southern Japan	Allow an extra 2–3 hours. Replacement buses now run Uto–Yatsushiro
Norwich Airport closed on Friday 28 August	Anyone flying from Norwich that day	The airport is shut for 24 hours. Rebook now

flying to East Asia in the next few days?

Typhoon Saudel puts Japan, China and Hong Kong on the same map

Saudel passed Okinawa on Tuesday night and Wednesday as a severe typhoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warning of winds to 40 metres per second. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines cancelled 279 flights between them, affecting some 41,700 passengers.

It is not finished. China’s National Meteorological Centre expects landfall between Thursday night and Friday morning on the coast from Xiangshan in Zhejiang to Fuqing in Fujian. Twenty-two coastal ferry routes are suspended and around 11,000 vessels are sheltering in Fujian. The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) expects Saudel inside Hong Kong’s north-eastern 400-kilometre range by Saturday afternoon, still a severe tropical storm. Korea’s forecasters keep the centre off the peninsula but warn of heavy tropical rain west and central.

Do this: check your flight with the airline directly, not a booking site, before you set
off.

flying through Barcelona?

The ground-handling strike is getting worse, not better

Groundforce staff at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat walked out on 4 August and have not gone back. Cancellations have climbed from around 150 to roughly 270, and more than 6,000 checked bags are stranded across Terminals 1 and 2, some passengers waiting five hours. A parallel strike at Palma was settled at arbitration. Barcelona’s was not.

Minimum service levels of 35% to 80% apply depending on route. Because the dispute is with an independent handler, not an airline, cash compensation is usually not payable — but your airline still owes you care, rebooking or a refund. Fly hand-luggage only through Barcelona if youpossibly can.

travelling in western Canada?

British Columbia’s state of emergency expires on Saturday

The province declared a state of provincial emergency on 8 August, with more than 100 fires burning and over 20,000 people evacuated. It runs to Saturday 29 August and may be extended again. Most evacuees are home and alerts around Peachland have lifted, but Okanagan risk stays elevated in warm, dry conditions. Highway 97 has reopened between Penticton and Peachland on a limited basis — 7am to 7pm, through traffic only, no stopping.

Do this: check EmergencyInfoBC the morning you travel, and DriveBC before driving the interior.

travelling around Japan by rail?

Southern Kyushu still has no through train

A month after the magnitude 7.1 Kumamoto earthquake of 28 July, the Kyushu Shinkansen is still suspended between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata. JR Kyushu has ruled out an August reopening — bridge and rail deformation at the Hinagu Fault is extensive. Trains run normally south of the gap, and from 26 August replacement buses cover Uto–Yatsushiro. Kagoshima is reachable; it simply takes longer. Build in two to three hours if your route crosses the gap.

flying from Norwich on Friday?

Norwich Airport closes for 24 hours

Prospect union air traffic control (ATC) members strike for 24 hours on Friday 28 August, and the airport will be closed to all air traffic. No flights will operate. If you are booked that day — including onward connections through Amsterdam — rebook now.

Dates for the diary

Fri 28 Aug — Norwich Airport closed, 24-hour ATC strike
Sat 29 Aug — British Columbia state of emergency due to expire unless extended
Sat 29 Aug — Saudel forecast within Hong Kong’s 400 km range
Nov 2026 — Japan’s tax-free shopping moves to refund-at-departure: you pay the 10%
consumption tax up front and reclaim it on the way out
31 Dec 2026 — China’s 30-day visa-free entry for UK passport holders is due to end
31 Dec 2026 — the UK exemption from the Korea Electronic Travel Authorisation (K-ETA)
expires. From 1 January 2027 you will need a K-ETA for South Korea

Before you travel

Check the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advice for your destination before you book and again before you fly — travel insurance can be invalidated by travelling against it. Confirm entry requirements with the destination’s own immigration authority, not a third-party visa site. And check that your policy actually covers disruption, cancellation and medical costs for what you are about to do.