I was speaking to Paul Johnson on Twitter earlier, he used to be involved in the Friends of the Brigg Line Group. He said that Northern currently has 42 units out of service with wheelflats due to poor railhead conditions. I asked how many normally are out of service due to wheelflats at this time of year and was told 15-20, so there's over double the usual number units out of service. It looks like many lines haven't had Rail Head Treatment Train treatment, although it's unclear whether there are many lines that normally receive this that haven't and, if so, why this is the case.
My sister commutes from Retford to Sheffield every weekday for university and the 7:36 was short formed every day last week. I study part time and commuted to Sheffield with her on Wednesday. The Class 144 that showed up had awful wheelflats and is likely out of service now if the noise it was making then is anything to go by! When we got to Sheffield, there was a 3 coach Class 144 and a Class 142 in the sidings between platforms 5 and 6 - my sister informed me that they had been there the previous afternoon. In fact, they were still there as I caught the 16:38 back home! I wonder if they were suffering from severe wheelflats and were waiting to be moved at low speed to the wheel lathe at Neville Hill?
Another sign that Northern really are struggling is the units that showed up last week. I believe it was Thursday that a Class 150 showed up on the 7:36 which is usually a Pacer (two if you're lucky), but what was even stranger is that my sister's train home that day (I think it was the 17:37) was formed of two Class 153's. While I've seen Class 150's working the Leeds expresses before, I can't recall ever seeing a 153 on that service so I gathered they were struggling!