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More UK travel chaos is expected on Saturday including more disruption to flights due to thick fog shrouding the country – wreaking havoc on festive travel plans.
Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester, the UK’s three busiest airports, are among those affected by the bad weather.
On Saturday, 20 flights at Heathrow have been cancelled so far with another 29 delayed, while at Gatwick, 26 are delayed and one has been cancelled.
Apologising for any inconvenience, a spokesperson for Gatwick Airport added: “Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place due to fog causing poor visibility. Some flights may be delayed throughout the day.”
In a double blow, the UK’s two busiest stations, London Liverpool Street and Paddington, are both closed due to engineering work on Saturday.
On the West Coast main line the electricity supply has failed between Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central.
National Rail said: “Trains may be cancelled, revised or delayed by up to 40 minutes. Disruption is expected to continue until 12 noon.”
Planes emerge from thick mist ahead of landings
A plane lands in the mist at Cardiff Airport. The murky weather has shrouded much of the country over the past few days and shows little sign of abating yet.
In some areas, thick fog patches could reduce visibility down to just 100 metres.
Barney Davis28 December 2024 12:40
Map shows UK shrouded in mist
The fog will linger long into the afternoon in the South East, the Met Office has warned in its latest update.
Barney Davis28 December 2024 12:25
Foggy night at Gatwick leaves passengers delayed – some for 9 hours
Passengers to and from London Gatwick airport experienced severe disruption overnight.
Forty-eight flights to and from the Sussex airport were grounded on Friday, half of them on easyJet.
Gatwick is the busiest single-runway airport in the world, and as such is susceptible to disruption.
Many passengers endured long delays as the evening wore on, many flights were around three hours late. The most extreme case was Turkish Airlines from Istanbul, which was nine hours late when it touched down at 6.34am on Saturday.
EasyJet passengers from Nantes arrived at Gatwick five hours behind schedule, at 2.30am. Another easyJet flight, 8556 from Antalya, left the Turkish airport two-and-a-half hours late and diverted to Bari. It is not known what caused the diversion.
A Tui arrival from Sharm el Sheikh ended up in Birmingham.
On Saturday, easyJet cancelled the morning trip from Gatwick to Belfast City and back and an evening flight to Geneva, while Vueling did the same with Barcelona and Valencia rotations.
British Airways cancelled five round-trips from Gatwick on Saturday, which were scheduled for Algiers, Faro, Innsbruck, Malaga and Salzburg.
Simon Calder28 December 2024 12:10
Snow warning across Scotland issued
The Met Office has upgraded a yellow snow and rain warning.
The forecaster says on Monday in the North and east of Perthshire, precipitation is likely to fall as snow, especially over high ground, with 10-20cm accumulating above 150-200 meters.
As milder air pushes in, snow will turn back to rain, and any rapid snow melt will contribute to flooding in places.
Barney Davis28 December 2024 11:40
British Airways grounds dozens of Saturday flights
British Airways began the day with 18 cancellations to and from London Heathrow, but that number has sharply increased.
The Independent has now identified 40 grounded flights, including departures to Vienna, Oslo, Barcelona, Rome and Geneva.
Single domestic links to Edinburgh and Glasgow are also cancelled.
Simon Calder28 December 2024 11:03
Air traffic controller posts thick fog rolling over Heathrow
An air traffic controller has shown how flights continued despite visible fog swirling over Heathrow in an amazing timelapse video taken this morning as the sun rose.
Barney Davis28 December 2024 10:58
Widespread fog causing air traffic restrictions
At Manchester airport, 16 departures and 27 arrivals are being delayed due to thick fog between 10.30am and 1pm on Saturday.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said: “As widespread fog continues to affect some UK airports today, temporary air traffic restrictions remain in place at locations with low visibility.
“Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety… Our teams are working closely with the airports and airlines to minimise disruption.”
Barney Davis28 December 2024 10:49
60mph winds expected as yellow warning issued
The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning to go alongside two rain warnings early next week.
The forecaster says from 11am Monday westerly winds will be strong and gust at times. Gusts of 50-60mph are possible over high ground around northern England.
The Met Office also issued two yellow weather warnings for most of Scotland next week and said heavy rain could bring “significant disruption” in the build-up to Hogmanay.
Rain warnings are in place for much of Scotland on December 30 and 31 apart from Orkney and Shetland.
According to the forecaster, 50-70mm of rain is possible over the two days in many areas, while some places may see 100-140mm – with these higher totals most likely over western Scotland.
Some areas may also see snow, especially in northern Scotland and over high ground, while strong winds could bring further disruption, particularly on New Year’s Eve.
Barney Davis28 December 2024 10:38
Christmas travel chaos as thick fog sparks mass delays and cancellations at UK’s busiest airports
Barney Davis28 December 2024 10:28
Cancellations and delays at Heathrow ongoing
On Saturday, 20 flights at Heathrow have been cancelled so far with another 29 delayed.
Fog is expected to cause further disruption to flights at one of the UK’s busiest airports.
Thick fog patches could reduce visibility to just 100 metres in some areas across the country, the Met Office said.
Barney Davis28 December 2024 10:28
