Thunderstorms disrupt Gatwick and Heathrow as hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled | Air transport
The storm caused severe delays to hundreds of flights at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, leaving passengers stranded on planes grounded for hours in scorching heat.
Showers and thunderstorms lit up London skies overnight after back-to-back days of weather above 30C as the UK and much of Europe faced a record-breaking heatwave.
More than 600 flights were delayed, some by more than six hours, due to stormy weather, landing or taking off from Heathrow and Gatwick, while dozens more were cancelled. The flight from Gatwick to Antalya, which was planned to land in Türkiye at 11.50, is now scheduled to arrive at 18.00.
Nats, Britain’s air traffic control service, said disruption was “expected to continue for the rest of the day” due to “severe weather conditions predicted for the south-east of England”.
Some travelers expressed their reactions on social media. One of them said they were stranded on a grounded British Airways plane at Heathrow from 7am to noon. Another person said their daughter was kept waiting for four hours on an easyJet flight at Gatwick.
According to flight tracker FlightAware, at least 367 flights were delayed due to landing or taking off from Heathrow on Saturday, and 352 flights were delayed entering or leaving Gatwick.
Some travelers were stranded abroad due to the sweltering heat. Twenty-nine year old Adam Joseph said BBC News reported that he was stranded at Venice airport without air conditioning after his flight to Gatwick was delayed by at least four hours.
“We could have stayed at the hotel for another three to four hours,” Joseph said. “We were also told that we would not be entitled to compensation even in the event of a delay of more than four hours due to an air traffic control restriction.”
He added: “I had to give my chair to a family with a pregnant mother.
“People are very angry… [British Airways] whatever happens.”
British Airways said in a statement: “Like other airlines, we have had to make some adjustments to our schedule today due to air traffic control restrictions resulting from adverse weather conditions affecting parts of UK airspace.
“Whilst the majority of our customers will not be affected, we apologize for any inconvenience and our teams are working hard to help those affected get their journeys back on track.”
EasyJet said it was “forced to cancel some flights to and from Gatwick in advance” due to the storm.
“We are doing everything possible to minimize the impact of weather disruption for our customers and are advising travelers in advance of their options to re-book or receive a refund, as well as hotel accommodation and dining options where required.” a spokesman said.
Delays were also experienced at smaller airports such as Leeds Bradford and Edinburgh; In the first case, three departures, in the second case, four arrivals and 15 departures were postponed due to weather conditions on Saturday.
London City has also experienced disruption and an airport spokesman said: “Flights are slowly returning to normal following weather-related air traffic restrictions this morning. There have been some associated delays and cancellations.”
