The start of 2023 has so far been trying. I started the New Year with the hind end of a dose of Covid which was quickly followed by a very nasty sinus infection which proved to be much more unpleasant than the Covid itself. I am still recovering from the second infection but managed during the last week to catch up with a backlog of orders which built up during my illness. I tried posting these orders this morning and was informed by the PO staff that they were accepting no international parcels due to the Royal Mail website having been hacked. I believe that the problem is one of ransom ware and that the Royal Mail will have to find a workaround or pay the ransom to have its system unlocked. The problem has been ongong for some days now and there is no immediate end in sight, only international letters are being accepted. 

All international orders have been packed. Where the parecel weighs more than 2 kilos I have used a courier service to send the parcel. Unfortuantely, parcels under 2 kilos cannot be sent with a courier as their prices for small packages are over twice the price of the Royal Mail rates. I simply cannot absorb these increased rates. I am monitoring the situation and will post the internationl parcels with the Royal Mail as soon as they find a solution to thier problems and start taking international parcels once again.