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.”
Key Points
- 20,000 passengers hit by flight cancellations on Friday
- Is my train running today?
- Disruptive fog to stick around into the weekend, forecasters say
Snow warning across Scotland issued
11:40
Barney Davis
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.
⚠️ Yellow weather warning updated ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 28, 2024
Heavy rain and snow across parts of Scotland
Monday 0000 - New Year's Eve 2359
Latest info https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs pic.twitter.com/TuuKVnA6ZS
British Airways grounds dozens of Saturday flights
11:03
Simon Calder
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.
Air traffic controller posts thick fog rolling over Heathrow
10:58
Barney Davis
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.
It tried its best but we didn’t quite get into #fog at #HeathrowAirport today#avgeek #avgeeks #aviation #Heathrow #timelapse pic.twitter.com/2IecC6hG3W
— Mib (@BT77W) December 28, 2024
Widespread fog causing air traffic restrictions
10:49
Barney Davis
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.”
60mph winds expected as yellow warning issued
10:38
Barney Davis
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.
Christmas travel chaos as thick fog sparks mass delays and cancellations at UK’s busiest airports
10:28
Barney Davis
Cancellations and delays at Heathrow ongoing
10:28
Barney Davis
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.
In pictures: Fog smothers UK
10:13
Barney Davis
The murky weather has shrouded much of the country over the past few days and shows little sign of abating yet.
A man takes an early morning run under the Angel of the North in Gateshead as another misty morning breaks over Durham Cathedral.
Five tips for driving in fog - Met Office
09:52
Barney Davis
Fog and low cloud will continue to give some poor travelling conditions today
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 28, 2024
Here are some tips for driving in fog from @TheRAC_UK and @NationalHways pic.twitter.com/d1PpjyTt3E
Residents in Devon complain of ‘week long fog'
09:48
Barney Davis
As fog and low cloud continues to give poor travelling conditions today spare a thought for those in Devon who claim to have been living under thick shrouds for around a week.
Still in the fog today in N Devon. Been like this for about a week now. I'm trying not to be a conspiracy theorist but a week long fog does seem a bit unusual pic.twitter.com/eoj2rQgtB2
— LucyLocket (@lucylocket1700) December 28, 2024
No fog disruption so far in Manchester despite flight restrictions
09:24
Barney Davis
Better news for travellers in the North West as Manchester Airport is not seeing the kind of disruption that is causing flight delays in London.
A Manchester Airport spokesman said: “Air traffic controllers have kept a restriction in place this morning covering a number of UK airports including Manchester.
“At the moment though it’s not causing any disruption.”
Manchester airports saw 22 cancellations, including six departures and arrivals serving Amsterdam on Friday.
Is my train running today?
09:22
Barney Davis
After Christmas, millions of people are on the move around Britain. But anyone planning to travel by train during the remaining four days of 2024 faces possible disruption due to a combination of rail engineering work and strikes.
Even though most stations and routes have reopened after two days of closure, the UK’s two busiest stations – Liverpool Street and Paddington in London – remain shut.
What is fog?
09:12
Barney Davis
Fog is essentially a cloud at ground level that causes a reduction in visibility to less than 1000 metres.
It becomes a much more noticeable thick fog when the visibility drops below 180 m, while severe disruption to transport occurs when the visibility falls below 50 m over a wide area (referred to as dense fog)
Fog is caused by tiny water droplets suspended in the air. The thickest fogs tend to occur in industrial areas where there are more pollution particles in the air allowing water droplets to coalesce and grow.
Gatwick expects more delays as thick fog causing poor visibility
08:50
Barney Davis
Gatwick Airport is currently showing as many as 54 delays on their departure boards.
A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place due to fog causing poor visibility. Some flights may be delayed throughout the day.
“London Gatwick apologises for any inconvenience. Passengers should contact their airline for further information.”
In some areas, thick fog patches could reduce visibility down to just 100 metres overnight and into Saturday, the Met Office said.
“It’s that time of year when people are travelling around the country a lot and there are a lot of people on the roads,” Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said.
“There is a lot of fog covering much of England, mainly the South East and central England, but the rest of the country is seeing quite a bit of thick fog too.
“It will be pretty murky on Saturday morning and there will still be fog patches that will take a little longer to clear.”
Diversions to different countries as fog disrupts flights
08:48
Barney Davis
Hundreds of airline passengers are waking up where they did not expect to be after thick fog disrupted flights on Friday.
The most extreme experience was at Teesside airport in northeast England.
Of the six scheduled arrivals on Friday, two landed with delays. Two diverted to Newcastle, 38 miles away. One went to Aberdeen.
The final flight of the day, on Ryanair from Alicante in Spain, circled hoping to land but then diverted to Dublin.
At London Heathrow, a Qatar Airways Airbus A350 diverted to Paris CDG. It eventually continued to its intended destination, arriving over three hours behind schedule, with the return leg to Doha consequently delayed by several hours – meaning missed connections for many passengers.
Four London City flights went to Gatwick and one – KLM from Amsterdam – touched down in Southampton.Manchester airport did relatively well with only one diversion: Jet2 from Tenerife, which went to East Midlands.
Rail chaos as two of London’s most used stations closed for engineering
08:43
Simon Calder
The UK’s two busiest stations, London Liverpool Street and Paddington, are both closed due to engineering work.
On the West Coast main line, which connects London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland, the electricity supply has failed between Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central.
National Rail says: “Trains may be cancelled, revised or delayed by up to 40 minutes. Disruption is expected to continue until 12 noon.”
Also, there is disruption on the West Coast main line between Glasgow and Motherwell. Avanti West Coast says Do Not Travel north of Preston before 10am.
20,000 passengers hit by flight cancellations on Friday
08:26
Simon Calder
At least 20,000 passengers hoping to fly to, from or within the UK had their flights cancelled on Friday, as airlines struggled to keep their schedules on track in heavy fog.
The worst-affected airport was London Gatwick, where 48 departures and arrivals were grounded, half of them on easyJet.
Upwards of 40 flights were cancelled at each of London City and London Heathrow, with British Airways grounding most of them.
Manchester airports saw 22 cancellations, including six departures and arrivals serving Amsterdam on KLM.Saturday has dawned with more cancellations.
British Airways has grounded 18 services to and from European destinations, including a holiday flight to Tenerife. At London City airport, Luxair and Swiss have grounded flights to and from Luxembourg and Zurich respectively.
Under air passengers’ rights rules, the cancelling airline must provide an alternative flight on any carrier as soon as possible – though bookings are extremely heavy. Passengers must be given means and, if necessary, hotel rooms while they wait.
