Shropshire Star

Flights hit as freezing fog blankets much of UK

British Airways cancelled at least 49 departing and 49 arriving services at Heathrow.

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The extreme conditions are expected to last until midday on Tuesday (PA)

Thousands of airline passengers suffered flight disruption as freezing fog hit the UK just days before Christmas.

A severe weather warning was issued by the Met Office covering southern and central England and some eastern parts of Wales until noon on Tuesday.

British Airways cancelled at least 49 departing and 49 arriving flights at Heathrow.

The carrier said in a statement: “Forecast fog and freezing conditions across parts of southern England and northern Europe meant a slight reduction in our short-haul flight schedule this morning.

Weather warning - fog.
(PA Graphics)

“We know that this is an important time for many families to travel and we are very sorry for the disruption to some of our customers’ journeys.”

A number of flights at Gatwick and London City airports were also cancelled or delayed due to the weather.

Passengers due to fly to or from European destinations on Tuesday were able to change their travel plans and re-book on to alternative flights up until Friday.

Heathrow said a “small number of flights” were cancelled in advance due to poor visibility at the west London hub.

A spokeswoman said this decision was made in partnership with air traffic control provider Nats “as a last resort to ensure safety”.

She went on: “Regrettably, this may result in some passengers experiencing disruption to their journeys today and we advise they check flight status with airlines before travelling to the airport.

“As always, Heathrow’s top priority is the safety of our passengers and we apologise to those whose travel may be impacted by the weather.”

No flights were able to take off or land at Manchester Airport for several hours on Monday as one runway was shut due to fog and another was closed for emergency maintenance.

This led to the cancellation or delay of dozens of flights.

Network Rail reported that there were no issues on the network due to fog.

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