Deanc,
I emailed the office that my application is being processed at (Belfast) on the 11th July and they replied back to me on the 17th. I also emailed the expedite team and they still haven’t got back to me. They do seem to be right up against it at the moment and are working through applications based on travel dates. They seem to be 3-4 days before travel date before they contact you.
This morning I went to my local office (Glasgow) and basically just queued up with a lot of desperate people. I travel on Saturday so they let me in to explain my circumstances. Took all my details and said they would contact Belfast office as Urgent and I should hear back from Belfast this afternoon and they should be able to tell me when I can collect my passport from Glasgow.
Probably doesnt help your stress at this time but do not give up hope, I havent heard of anyone not being able to get their passport (as long as they are prepared to doorstep their local office). Hopefully you are close to one.
Good luck