Hundreds of flights have been cancelled and delayed at London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport due to thunderstorm disruption in the south of England, with further flight delays and cancellations expected throughout the day.
Extent of the Disruption
Travel mayhem is continuing at London's major airports as hundreds of flights have been scrapped at both Heathrow and Gatwick after scorching temperatures triggered severe thunderstorms across the south of England. Torrential overnight rainfall left two of Britain's busiest airports grappling with hundreds of delays and cancellations on Saturday, with more than 400 flights at Gatwick held up and a further 600 grounded at Heathrow, according to Flightradar24.
The flight tracking service also revealed that over 200 flights across both airports had been axed entirely.
Sunday's Outlook
As Sunday gets under way, a number of flights are already facing delays, with several cancellations already confirmed. At Gatwick, easyJet services to Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Belfast and Nice have already been scrapped today, according to Flightradar24, with further delays anticipated throughout the day. At Heathrow, British Airways has cancelled flights to Toulouse, Rome, Amsterdam and Milan.
Aviation authority Eurocontrol confirmed that Heathrow and Gatwick were the only two UK airports experiencing 'heavy' delays as a result of the storms.
Air Traffic Control Measures
Temporary air traffic control restrictions were imposed at Gatwick on Saturday owing to the severe weather. Gatwick said: "Due to ongoing thunderstorms across the network last night, temporary air traffic restrictions were put in place, which resulted in some flights being delayed and cancelled this morning."
Airlines Respond
EasyJet insisted it was doing everything within its power to assist passengers caught up in the disruption. A spokesperson said: "Due to thunderstorms in the south of the UK which is restricting the number of arrivals and departures today, like other airlines we are experiencing some disruption to our flying programme and have had to pre-emptively cancel some flights to and from Gatwick in advance. We are doing all possible to minimise the impact of the weather disruption for our customers and are notifying passengers in advance with their options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required."
Weather Forecast
Despite the heatwave beginning to ease, the Met Office has cautioned that further bouts of thunderstorms remain a distinct possibility. The Met Office forecast for Gatwick indicated that conditions will remain "cloudy with showers" throughout the day, with the prospect of further unsettled weather on the horizon.
