Many people were forced to sleep at Heathrow overnight (photo: Sue Kerslake) Sunday 19 December 2010
Air travellers halted after snow
Many people were forced to sleep at Heathrow overnight (photo: Sue Kerslake) Thousands of travellers have been stranded at Heathrow airport overnight, and hundreds more at Gatwick, as snow continues to disrupt much of the UK.
There will be no flight arrivals at Heathrow on Sunday and only a handful of departures, while many Gatwick flights are affected.
Problems persist at airports UK-wide, while the Met Office is warning of icy roads across much of England and Wales.
More heavy snow is expected in eastern Scotland and north-east England.
Up to 10cm of snow are expected in these areas, and up to 20cm in hilly areas.
Forecasters said the UK was hit by extremely low temperatures overnight, with most parts of the country struggling to get above minus 5C, while fresh snow fell in eastern Scotland and north-east England.
Hundreds of thousands of Britons had been due to fly this weekend, according to travel association Abta, which estimated that four million people expected to go abroad.
Around the UKWales: Plea for hospital staff Scotland: Heavy snow hits again N Ireland: More severe weather Birmingham: Flights suspended Lincolnshire: Grit '60% gone' Kent: Snowfall brings disruption London: Severe weather warning
Heathrow airport told the BBC's Helen Fawkes that "a few thousand spent the night in the terminals" but said just four short-haul and three long-haul flights would leave on Sunday morning.
A statement issued by the airport, which saw temperatures fall to minus 5.2C overnight, said it "will be not be accepting arrivals on Sunday, and will only manage a handful of departures as our airfield team continues to deal with the impacts of yesterday's bad weather and prepares the airport for a full re-opening on Monday".
The statement went on: "We are extremely sorry for the disruption this will cause to passengers and airlines and we stress that passengers must check with their airlines before travelling to the airport. We will provide regular updates."
And a Gatwick spokeswoman said it was doing everything it could to "get passengers on their way and aircraft in the air".
Winter weather has disrupted travel
"Passengers must check with their airline before setting out for the airport to reduce congestion and avoid disappointment," she said.
Airports in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands are also suffering cancellations and delays.
Stansted, Luton, Exeter, London City, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton, Cardiff and Birmingham airports also said flights would be subject to delays and cancellations throughout Sunday.
In Northern Ireland freezing conditions continue to make travel difficult following some of the heaviest snowfall for 25 years - with more forecast.
Belfast International Airport has reopened, although knock-on effects have caused delays.
On what is one of the busiest weekends of the year for travel and shopping, other problems caused by the weather include:
WEATHER AND TRAVEL INFO
Get the latest on travel problems and school closures via your local website Check if snow is forecast in your area at BBC Weather Details of motorway and local road closures and public transport disruption are available at BBC Travel News For advice on handling difficult driving conditions, see the Highways Agency website For information about severe weather warnings, see the Met Office website For information about staying healthy in the cold weather, see the NHS Winter Health websiteOn Saturday, Jon Caudwell, from the Highways Agency, said they were doing their best to keep major roads in England clear but needed help from motorists who should "really seriously consider" whether they needed to go out.
He said he was surprised at the level of traffic on the roads, given the advice not to travel. He said in some areas abandoned vehicles and jack-knifed lorries had blocked access for gritters.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "The weather over the last 24 hours has been exceptionally severe. Government continues to monitor all aspects of the situation."
The enhanced content on this page requires Javascript and Flash Player 9
Map Key 
Land
Cloud
Lakes, Rivers & Sea
Land Cloud Lakes, Rivers & Sea Fog 
Light
Heavy
Frost 
Light
Heavy
Pressure Fronts 
Cold 
Warm 
Occluded
ColdWarmOccluded Rain 
Light
Heavy
Extreme
Snow 
Light
Heavy
Temperature tab only
Temperature (°C) 
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-12030233
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment