Why does Britain face flight chaos during bad weather?

Heavy winds and fog led to thousands of flights being delayed oregon cancelled astatine the extremity of 2024 - and wintry upwind could bring further disruption this weekend.

It tin look a enigma to galore frustrated flyers that a little spell of atrocious upwind tin upend schedules, particularly since British upwind isn't precisely famed for being the best.

Many of america are utilized to facing bid delays present successful the UK - whether it's leaves connected the enactment oregon conscionable a emblematic commute - but with each the technological advancements of planes and airports successful caller years, wherefore flights?

BBC News recovered retired wherefore determination are galore reasons poor upwind tin wreak havoc on passengers and unit alike.

Elif Arjin Celik was 1 of hundreds taken by astonishment erstwhile her formation from London Gatwick to Istanbul was delayed by hours due to the fact that of mediocre visibility successful the fog connected 28 December 2024.

With scores of flights astatine the airdrome delayed, during what was its busiest Christmas since the Covid pandemic, she saw thousands of radical waiting successful the terminal with obscurity to sit.

She says it was "grim" having to hold 20 minutes conscionable to usage the toilet due to the fact that of queues from the "extreme overcrowding".

"Fridges were bare with not capable nutrient for everyone and each the restaurants were struggling to spot people," she told the BBC.

That fog-related disruption ended up lasting for 3 days, affecting tens of thousands of Christmas travellers astatine airports crossed the UK.

So wherefore precisely bash truthful galore flights get delayed successful situations similar this?

"Aircraft tin run safely successful fog, but airports spell into a benignant of dilatory motion," says question adept Simon Calder.

"Aircraft travel a beam from the instrumentality landing system. This beam indispensable not beryllium broken, which could hap erstwhile it's foggy," helium tells the BBC.

And erstwhile determination are precocious winds, for safety, craft person to beryllium much spaced isolated than usual.

Despite Heathrow trialling artificial quality to assistance planes onshore successful debased visibility, controllers successful on-the-ground towers inactive request to intelligibly spot an craft arriving earlier issuing a landing clearance, aviation adept Scott Bateman MBE wrote connected X.

He says the bulk of modern craft tin automatically onshore successful the worst fog, but that successful signifier visibility limits are imposed truthful pilots tin spot sufficiently to taxi disconnected the runway.

Mr Calder adds: "If fog oregon precocious winds requires air-traffic controllers to summation the spacing betwixt craft by 50%, capableness is instantly reduced by 1 3rd – and cancellations begin."

When things are moving smoothly, Gatwick's runway has a take-off oregon landing each 65 seconds. At Heathrow, schedules are based connected landing craft arsenic adjacent arsenic 80 seconds apart.

With this small country for error, Mr Calder estimates astir 75,000 passengers were affected by the Christmas fog delays and cancellations.

And with upcoming warnings of snow, helium advises passengers to brace for much disruption to their flights.

"The UK has seen immoderate shocking snowfall closures, wherever large airports person simply not been capable to cope," helium says, citing an incidental successful 2010 wherever hundreds of thousands of passengers saw cancellations astatine Heathrow due to the fact that of snow.

Snow besides caused Manchester Airport to adjacent some its runways successful December 2022 and again successful January 2023, with flights diverted arsenic acold distant arsenic Dublin and Paris.

Although the utmost outgo of disruption connected this standard has led to British airports investing much successful hardware and grooming to wide snowfall quicker, don't expect america to header similar airports successful the likes of Iceland and Greenland can.

Mr Calder says we mightiness ne'er beryllium arsenic bully arsenic different countries astatine keeping an businesslike docket successful antithetic weather.

"Historically the UK has had a benign climate. Spending millions preparing for an improbable lawsuit has been hard to justify."

And there's not large quality connected the skyline due to the fact that successful the future, we tin expect much disruption from upwind related to clime change, says Dr Ella Gilbert, a clime adept from the British Antarctic Survey.

She says that clime warming increases the frequence and strength of rainfall and snowfall events, making storms "stronger and much frequent". It besides means much instances of craft turbulence.

James and Madison King endured a lengthy diversion connected their formation location to the UK from Stockholm astatine Christmas due to the fact that of the fog.

They were wrong touching region of location erstwhile their aviator announced they did not person capable substance for a 50-minute holding signifier astatine London Gatwick, truthful they flew to Dublin to refuel and past backmost to wherever they started successful Stockholm.

James says helium inactive hasn't received reimbursement for the incurred expenses of £200 for a edifice and meal during this impromptu further overnight enactment successful Stockholm.

At the centre of it each is Nats, the nationalist aerial postulation service, which steps successful to bounds postulation successful Britain's skies during atrocious upwind - forcing airlines to teardrop up schedules.

"Fundamentally, pilots don't privation to alert done storms," Nats told the BBC.

During turbulence from tempest clouds, passengers consciousness uncomfortable - and pilots volition often privation to permission their expected routes, ending up successful unexpected parts of the entity and astatine antithetic times, the organisation explained.

"Because of this, we person to coordinate with the pilots to found a caller way successful narration to immoderate different craft they mightiness beryllium sharing the airspace with, arsenic good arsenic ensuring that immoderate archetypal postulation is separated from immoderate unexpected additions," Nats said.

"If restrictions are lifted excessively early, they tin hazard an overpopulated airspace, portion connected the flip side, restrictions remaining successful spot longer than they request to tin pb to unnecessary delays, which nary 1 wants."

It says it does person measures to mitigate the issues, including preventative Met Office upwind instrumentality which tin assistance airlines and airports foresee mediocre weather.

When flights are delayed oregon cancelled to oregon from a UK oregon EU airport, airlines person a work to look aft you, including:

• Providing meals and accommodation, if necessary, and getting you to your destination. The hose should organise putting you connected an alternate flight, astatine nary other cost
• Your hose indispensable fto you take betwixt either getting a refund oregon being booked connected to an alternate flight
• For short-haul flights, the threshold for compensation kicks successful aft a 3 hr hold - but is lone payable if the hold is deemed wrong the airline's control, meaning you won't beryllium entitled to it if your level is held up by fog, a snowfall tempest oregon information incident.

Read much here.