Thunderstorms delay hundreds of Heathrow and Gatwick flights

Hundreds of flights at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports have been delayed as Britain’s air traffic control service warned that the disruption was expected to continue until Sunday.

More than 900 incoming and outgoing flights were delayed by up to 11 hours and dozens were canceled at two travel hubs, mostly due to the storm, according to FlightAware tracker.

NATS, the UK’s air traffic control service, said adverse weather conditions meant planes had to “avoid affected areas and be further apart”, which would affect flights “for the remainder of Saturday and overnight”.

Gatwick and Heathrow advised passengers to check the status of their flights with their airlines before travelling.

More than 474 flights arriving at or departing from Heathrow have been delayed so far, according to FlightAware, and a further 439 flights flying into or out of Gatwick have been delayed.

Delays on affected flights vary. Heathrow’s live arrival board shows a British Airways flight departing from Santiago, Chile, which was due to land at 10am BST but is currently not expected to arrive until 9pm this evening.

Europe-wide aviation agency Eurocontrol mapping shows the most serious air traffic control delays in the airspace between south-east England and north-west Europe, where storm clouds are currently located.

But other airports in the UK were largely unaffected.

In an updated statement on Saturday afternoon, NATS said: “Severe storms across the south-east of England and Europe continue to affect flights and this is expected to continue for the remainder of the day and overnight.

“To ensure the safety of the traveling public, aircraft must avoid affected areas and remain further apart, limiting the number of flights that can be operated safely.

“We know disruptions are frustrating, but we are working closely with airlines and airports to reduce disruptions as much as possible.

“Passengers should continue to contact their airline for the latest information regarding their flight.”

NATS added that the forecast for UK airspace on Sunday looked generally good, but more thunderstorms were expected in Europe, which could further impact routes across the continent.

Storms developed overnight following a record-breaking heatwave, with the hottest ever June high of 37.3C recorded in Suffolk on Friday.

Passengers remained on the ground for hours

Passenger Adam Joseph, 29, told BBC News he was stranded at Venice airport in Italy without air conditioning after his flight to Gatwick was four hours late and counting.

He said that he would leave Venice at 12.30 local time, but the plane had not left London yet.

“We could have stayed at the hotel for another three to four hours,” Joseph said.

“We are also being told that we will not be entitled to compensation even in the event of a delay of more than four hours due to air traffic control restriction.

“I had to give my chair to a family with a pregnant mother.

“People are very angry. We haven’t received any communication from the parties. [BA] whatever happens.”

BA apologized for the inconvenience, adding: “Like other airlines, we have 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.”

Meanwhile, Easyjet passenger Will Poole told the BBC he had canceled his holiday to the Greek island of Skiathos after his flight from Gatwick was canceled and moved to Bristol.

He said he boarded the plane shortly after 5 a.m. on Saturday but returned to the gate at 11 a.m.

Poole said he was “eventually offered an email five hours later with a free snack and drink and a £6 voucher to spend at Gatwick”.

Poole, who booked with Easyjet Holidays, told the BBC he was offered a replacement flight from Bristol Airport, more than 100 miles away, at 7am on Sunday.

“The email said ‘details to follow’ regarding transfer arrangements, but there was no mention of a hotel,” he said.

“Easyjet staff at the terminal were not very helpful, saying we needed to speak to someone from Easyjet Holidays.

“I finally got over it and decided to cancel the holiday because they couldn’t put us on another plane within 12 hours.”

Poole said passengers understood the situation was out of Easyjet’s control but “you’d like to think” the replacement flight would have been planned from Gatwick. He said he was promised a refund within 28 days.

Easyjet said in a statement on Saturday evening that Mr Poole’s flight was unable to operate due to storms that restricted the number of arrivals and departures from Gatwick.

“We are truly sorry that Mr Poole had to cancel his holiday with us due to weather conditions affecting his flight,” the spokesperson said, and confirmed that the company would issue a full refund as it was unable to find an alternative flight that suited his travel plans.

He added that affected passengers were offered options such as refunds, rebookings, hotel accommodations and meals when necessary.

A yellow warning for extreme temperatures has been issued for the east and south-east of England until Sunday morning, while thunderstorms in the south of England are expected to worsen on Saturday afternoon.

Eurocontrol said a “large area of ​​warm and unstable weather” stretching from northern Spain to southern Sweden was likely to see further storm cloud development overnight, adding that there was a “large degree of uncertainty” about when and where storm clouds would develop.

A spokesman for London Gatwick Airport said “temporary air traffic restrictions” had been put in place “due to persistent storms across the network last night”.

A Heathrow Airport spokesman said “adverse weather conditions” had led to “temporary air traffic restrictions affecting some flights”.