What causes the UK to experience turmoil in flights when the weather worsens?
Travelers at UK airports have encountered significant disruptions several times in recent weeks, due to conditions ranging from strong winds to dense fog.
The Met Office has now released an amber alert for snow and ice across the Midlands, northern England, and Wales, indicating that disruptions and cancellations in air transport are “anticipated”.
For many irritated passengers, it's baffling how a short period of adverse weather can throw timetables into disarray, particularly as the UK's weather is hardly celebrated for its excellence.
Thus, despite the recent technological improvements in aircraft and airport facilities, why are flights so severely impacted?
How swiftly efficiency can spiral into disorder
Although aircraft are engineered to handle conditions such as snow, ice, fog, and strong winds, air traffic management frequently enforces stringent safety restrictions under these circumstances.
Consequently, “airports enter a form of slow-motion,” as the interval between inbound and outbound flights gets extended, according to travel specialist Simon Calder.
Should the conditions “necessitate air-traffic controllers to enlarge the gap between planes by 50%, capacity instantly diminishes by a third – leading to cancellations,” he further states.
The system has minimal leeway, given that, under optimal conditions, schedules at London Heathrow—Europe's most congested airport—rely on spacing aircraft landings as narrowly as 80 seconds apart. Moreover, London Gatwick, Britain's second most frequented airport, has the capacity to manage a take-off or landing every 65 seconds.
Last weekend, due to fog, London Gatwick extended the intervals between incoming and outgoing flights, a move Mr. Calder believes impacted approximately 75,000 travelers.
James and Madison King were among those affected, as their journey from Stockholm to London was notably extended due to the fog-induced spacing restrictions.
Close to home, the announcement came from the pilot that the aircraft lacked sufficient fuel to endure a 50-minute holding pattern at Gatwick, resulting in a diversion to Dublin for refueling. Subsequent limitations on the flight crew's working hours forced all passengers to return to their starting point in the Swedish capital.
James mentions that he has yet to receive reimbursement for the £200 he spent on accommodation and dinner during the unexpected extra night in Stockholm.
Before Christmas, Heathrow experienced delays and cancellations due to strong winds.
Although certain airports are experimenting with artificial intelligence to assist aircraft landings in poor visibility, aviation specialist Scott Bateman MBE explained that air traffic controllers in ground-based towers must maintain clear visual contact with an incoming plane before granting landing permission, as stated in a post on X.
He mentions that while most contemporary planes have the capability to autonomously land even in the thickest fog, operational procedures dictate visibility thresholds to ensure pilots have enough clarity to navigate away from the runway.
Elif Arjin Celik's journey from London Gatwick to Istanbul experienced extensive delays due to low visibility caused by fog on December 28, 2024.
She observed thousands stranded in the terminal with no seating available, describing the 20-minute wait for the restroom due to “severe overcrowding” as “bleak.”
Anticipating future snow alerts, Mr. Calder recommends travelers prepare for additional disturbances to their journeys due to capacity constraints and shutdowns of runways.
“The UK has witnessed astonishing shutdowns due to snow, with major airports failing to manage,” he remarks, referring to a 2010 event where snow led to cancellations at Heathrow, affecting hundreds of thousands of travelers.
In December 2022 and once more in January 2023, snow led to the shutdown of both runways at Manchester Airport, resulting in flights being rerouted to distant locations like Dublin and Paris.
Despite the high costs of such disruptions prompting UK airports to allocate more resources towards equipment and training for faster snow removal, anticipation of managing as efficiently as airports in Iceland and Greenland should be tempered.
Mr. Calder states that it may be unattainable for us to match the proficiency of other nations in maintaining efficiency during atypical weather conditions.
“The UK's climate has traditionally been mild,” he remarks. “Allocating millions for a rare occurrence has been challenging to defend.”
Disruption may escalate
The outlook is bleak as we anticipate increased disturbances due to climate-related weather changes, according to Dr. Ella Gilbert, a climate specialist at the British Antarctic Survey.
“Aviation is significantly affected by severe rain and turbulent conditions that render flying hazardous – both phenomena intensified by elevated temperatures,” she notes.
She also mentions that global warming amplifies the occurrence and severity of rain and snow events, leading to storms that are “more intense and regular,” thereby elevating the likelihood of turbulence for aircraft.
Under the Transport Act 2000, Nats, the national air traffic service, has the authority to decrease the number of airplanes in the air and increase their separation during unfavorable weather conditions.
As this is a component of Nats' responsibility to value safety above all else, it is not required to reimburse airlines for these limitations, thereby absolving airlines from compensating passengers for any ensuing delays.
The entity acknowledged to the BBC the challenge of maintaining a delicate equilibrium.
“Regulating traffic flow is exclusively a measure of last resort, requiring precise timing,” stated a spokesperson for Nats.
“Sudden extra or postponed air traffic can heighten the strain on controllers, especially after the weather improves.”
“Lifting restrictions prematurely may risk congested airspace, whereas keeping them for longer than necessary can cause avoidable delays, which is undesirable to everyone.”
Nats highlighted that this becomes particularly evident during storms.
“Essentially, pilots avoid flying through storms,” it informed the BBC.
“While airplanes are durable, storms can impact their systems and the severe winds found in turbulent storm clouds challenge an airplane's ability to stay level. This also heightens turbulence, adversely affecting the comfort of passengers.”
This results in aircraft appearing in unforeseen sectors of the airspace at various moments, necessitating the recalibration of their new trajectories to prevent collisions.
Nats mentions that it has implemented strategies to minimize disturbances, among these are advanced Met Office meteorological devices capable of predicting when to enforce safety restrictions. Additionally, pilots are equipped with enhanced technology that aids in navigating around adverse weather conditions and alerting air traffic controllers about possible complications.
What entitlements do you have when a flight is called off because of inclement weather?
If your flight to or from a UK or EU airport is delayed or cancelled, carriers are obligated to take care of you, which involves:
Supplying food and lodging when required, besides facilitating your journey to the end location. The airline is responsible for arranging your transfer to a different flight without additional charges.
The airline is obligated to offer you the option of either receiving a refund or being placed on a different flight.
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