Fog-related Travel chaos takes over the UK airports after flight delays and cancellations during the busy festive period. The most affected areas are mainly central England and the South-East. Scheduled flights from the UK airports, London Gatwick (LGW), London Heathrow (LHR), and Manchester Airport are dealing with delays and cancellations. The delays are also witnessed at London Stansted.
Flights were also disrupted last month due to Storm Bert wreaking travel chaos.
UK MET Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said in a weather update:
“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”
London Gatwick (LGW)
- Currently FlightAware data reveals, LGW is experiencing departure delays of an average of 1 hour 27 minutes
- Arrival delays for airborne aircraft of an average of 1 hour 39 minutes (and increasing)
- With 62 cancellations.
London Heathrow
- More data from FlightAware reveals about 50 cancellations from LHR.
Manchester Airport
- Further data from the source tells that there is an arrival delay for airborne aircraft on an average of 55 minutes (and increasing)
- Departure delays of an average of 30 minutes (and decreasing)
- About 11 cancellations from Manchester Airport
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) provider to the UK airports on travel chaos due to fog
On Thursday, a NATS spokesperson said that temporary air restrictions are in place due to widespread fog in the UK, and such restrictions are put in place to maintain safety. Further the spokesperson gives reassurance of some sort, ‘’We continue to monitor the situation and have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information.’
Will the delays and cancellations persist ?
“It will be pretty murky on Saturday morning and there will still be fog patches that will take a little longer to clear.” Said Liam Eslick on Saturday morning.
Later, Saturday evening, the reports of delays still persist. @Marco_mmabjj on X posts as he finishes boarding with Ryanair from Stansted London:
So am doing something I haven’t done in 15 years .
As British airways cancelled me two flights to Heathrow due to fog,tonight I am attempting a Ryanair flight via Stansted . Haven’t used Ryanair/Stansted plebs choice in 15 years . But respect to Ryanair for keeping the schedule pic.twitter.com/aQQolcSPTM
— Marco – MMA (@Marco_mmabjj) December 28, 2024
Although there is hope of the weather and travel chaos clearing by Sunday noon as per the current MET weather report:
Are you travelling this weekend? Speak with your airlines first before leaving for airport as advised by NATS.