Passengers at several of the country’s busiest airports are facing travel delays due to foggy weather.
Much of the UK has been shrouded in fog in recent days, with the weather continuing to affect travellers as airports return to their normal flight schedules after Christmas.
With air traffic restrictions in place at several UK airports due to fog on Friday, passengers are being urged air traffic control (ATC) provider Nats to check for travel guidance from their airline.
London Gatwick and Manchester – the UK’s second and third busiest airports – are among those affected.
Some flights departing from Gatwick on Friday evening have been delayed by up to three hours. Live departure boards show about half a dozen flights set to leave Manchester Airport on Friday evening have been cancelled already.
At Heathrow, British Airways has been forced to cancel a handful of flights, with others delayed.
The Met Office has not yet issued a weather warning for fog but said it would monitor conditions overnight.
A Nats spokesperson said: “Due to widespread fog, temporary air traffic restrictions are in place at several airports across the UK today. Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety.
“We continue to monitor the situation and have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information. Our teams are working closely with the airports and airlines to minimise disruption.”
EasyJet said it was currently experiencing some disruption to its flying programme due to low visibility.
“While this is outside of our control, we are doing all we can to minimise the impact of the delays,” a spokesperson for the budget airline said.
A Manchester airport spokesperson said: “Like most airports across the country, we have experienced some delays as a result of fog. In most instances these delays have been short and have not caused disruption to our schedule.
“Passengers due to travel should prepare as normal and aim to arrive at the airport in line with their airline’s advice – this is usually two hours ahead of a shorthaul flight and three hours ahead of a long-haul flight.”
National Highways, which runs the UK’s motorways and busiest A-roads, said the misty weather was not having a significant impact on its network, but reminded motorists to use dipped headlights, wipers and demisters while driving in foggy conditions.
The UK is expected to have dull and drizzly weather over the coming days, with a “wet and rather windy” New Year’s Eve on the horizon, the Met Office has said.
Outbreaks of patchy rain in north and west Scotland were forecast for Friday, with patches of mist and thick fog having been expected to linger all day in places across England and Wales.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: “Basically, northeast seems to be the place to be for the next couple of days if you want to see some brighter and maybe even some blue sky at times, whereas elsewhere is mainly grey.”
Over the weekend, the weather is expected to become “a little bit windier and a little bit wetter” across Scotland, with showers in northern Scotland as a result of low pressure, he said.
Further south it will be “pretty cloudy” with some breaks in the cloud on Sunday because of slightly stronger winds, the forecaster added.
Temperatures at the weekend may be “slightly fresher” with highs of about 9°C to 11°C expected, compared with 11°C to 13°C earlier in the week.
“It’s still fairly mild for the time of year, staying mild overnight so unlikely to see much in the way of frost over the next few days,” he added.
The forecast for next week includes “quite wet and quite windy” weather for those celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland, with the potential for snow on both high and low ground.
Mr Partridge continued: “As we head towards New Year, particularly for New Year’s Eve, it looks like there could be some wet and rather windy weather, particularly across Scotland, which is not ideal, considering that’s the place that really goes to town for New Year’s Eve.
“So there is potential for a little bit of possibly disruptive weather on New Year’s Eve, and the most likely place to see the most disruptive weather is, unfortunately, Scotland.”
With agencies.
