Strike daily: How will walkouts on Tuesday 13 December affect you?

While your council is out gritting the roads, some of you might want to grit your teeth. Tuesday marks the start of a wave of strike action that threatens to dominate the week, and potentially the rest of the month.

As the BBC's employment correspondent, each evening I'll bring you the latest information on what will be happening over the next 24 hours, to help you prepare and manage your day.

For the rest of this week, at least one union will be striking each day.

So what is happening on Tuesday?

The RMT rail workers' union is striking on four days this week - Tuesday and Wednesday, and then again on Friday and Saturday.

It will mean the near total shutdown of Britain's railways.

The RMT rail union leader, Mick Lynch, has asked for a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - but, on Monday afternoon, Downing Street made clear it didn't plan to intervene over the negotiations between rail bosses and unions.

Network Rail - which owns and maintains the rails, signals and stations - says half of rail lines will be shut on strike days. Most of Scotland and Wales will have no trains running at all.

The RMT wants a pay offer reflecting the rising cost of living and a guarantee of no compulsory job losses. Rail bosses say changes need to be agreed to modernise the railway and cover the cost of pay increases.

The advice is to avoid taking trains on Tuesday if you can, but if you must travel:

If previous strikes are anything to go by, even on the strike-free days this week - Thursday and Sunday - rail passengers' patience is likely to be tested. That's because carriages, engines and staff may not be in the right place at the start of those days. The cold and wintry weather will also make it harder to ensure rail employees are where they need to be.

If you are hoping to pass your driving test in the coming weeks - you may have to wait a bit longer.

But it depends where you live.

To start with - from Tuesday 13 December to Sunday 18 December - north-east England and Scotland are the areas affected.

The number of walkouts will ramp up as the week goes on.

Remember, each day we will have a daily update like this, to keep you informed.

The big one on Wednesday, as well as the train strike, will be at Royal Mail - when more than 115,000 postal workers are expected to walk out again.

The last posting day for first-class delivery before Christmas has already been brought forward to this Friday, 16 December.

Unions representing nurses, highway workers, some bus staff in south and west London, and baggage handlers at Heathrow will also strike later this week.