Travel chaos as over 1,000 flights are grounded or delayed at Heathrow and Gatwick Airport after UK hit by thunderstorms
THE ongoing heatwave has caused chaos at the UK’s airports with more than 1,000 flights either delayed or cancelled.
Airports affected on Saturday include Heathrow, Gatwick, and Edinburgh, with 1,019 flights delayed and 160 axed, as air traffic restrictions were put in place overnight.
London Heathrow had 440 flights delayed, Gatwick 425, 120 at Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford had 20 and London City had 14, according to the tracking website FlightRadar.
Heathrow had 103 flights cancelled, while Gatwick had 46, there were six at London City and five at Edinburgh.
A British Airways (BA) flight from Santiago, Chile, was the longest delayed, it had been due to land at 10am but is now expected to arrive at 9pm.
London saw its skies light up as lightning hit and downpours came in following day of extreme temperatures that saw the month’s record temperature broken on three consecutive days.
Thunderstorms forced airports to limit the number of flights that could take off and land, meaning holidaymakers were left stranded or facing severe delays.
BA put the delays down to London’s “weather conditions,” pointing to the Met Office’s amber “extreme heat” warning which covered the capital, the south-east and East Anglia.
This has now been extended by the Met Office to cover Sunday until 9pm.
Gatwick Airport urged passengers to contact their airline to check the status of their flight.
A spokesperson said that temporary air traffic restrictions had caused flight cancellations and delays “due to thunderstorms”.
A spokesman for London City Airport said: “Flights are gradually returning to normal following this morning’s weather-related air traffic restrictions.
“There have been some associated delays and cancellations.”
The thunderstorm also caused Edinburgh Airport to be hit by the air space restrictions with four arrivals and 15 departures delayed.
Leeds Bradford Airport also suffered with three departures delayed Saturday morning.
A spokesman for British Airways said: “Like other airlines, we’ve had to make some adjustments to our schedule today due to Air Traffic Control restrictions caused by adverse weather conditions affecting parts of UK airspace.
“While the vast majority of our customers will be unaffected, we apologise for the inconvenience caused and our teams are working hard to help those impacted get their journeys back on track.”
A spokesman for NATS, which runs air traffic control in Britain, said: “Forecasted severe weather across the south-east of England is causing disruption to flights today, with aircraft needing to avoid affected areas.
“Our teams are managing traffic safely and working to reduce delays, but weather disruption is expected to continue through the rest of today.
“Passengers should contact their airline for the latest information on their flight.”
Friday saw the hottest June day on record with temperatures hitting 37.3C in Santon Downham, Suffolk, breaking the high of 36.7C recorded in Merryfield, Somerset, on Thursday and the record set by the famous summer of 1976.
While temperatures are predicted to fall over the weekend the Met Office still has an amber extreme heat warning in place until 9pm on Sunday.
An amber warning means officials expect significant impacts on health and social care services, with an increased risk of illness and deaths among older and vulnerable people.
The cooler weekend comes in the wake of several days of rare red heat warnings, the most severe warning where there is a danger to life.
