Fog disrupts UK flights
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Heathrow airport said on Wednesday it had cancelled over 60 flights due to heavy fog, causing delays at Europe’s busiest hub.
“There is poor visibility so the number of flights that are landing and taking off at the airport have been reduced as a precaution,” a spokesman for Heathrow said. “The problem is expected to ease later this morning.”
Heathrow said cancelled flights included scheduled trips to Warsaw, Nice, Stockholm, Aberdeen and several German cities.
The problem is exacerbated because the London airport is operating at close to full capacity, the spokesman added. Britain’s coalition government blocked the airport’s expansion in 2010.
London City Airport had to axe six early-morning flights as UK temperatures dipped as low as minus 10C (13F), and some flights at Manchester airport in north-west England were also cancelled.
The freezing fog disrupted travel on the roads, causing traffic jams and delays on main line rail and Tube services.
There was congestion on a number of major road routes, while a section of the A1(M) between junctions 39 and 40 in Yorkshire was closed.
On the railways, overhead wire problems caused 50-minute delays in the rush hour between Bedford and Luton, while a broken-down train at Watford Junction in Hertfordshire also caused hold-ups.
An electrical supply problem led to delays to train services between Seaford and Lewes in East Sussex, while a signalling problem caused hold-ups to services in and out of another Sussex coastal station – Brighton.
In Scotland, a broken-down train at Bathgate led to delays between Edinburgh and Airdrie.
On the Tube, there were severe delays on the Metropolitan line between Rickmansworth and Amersham and minor delays on the rest of the line due to a lack of trains.
There were also severe delays between High Barnet and Finchley Central on the Northern line due to a signal failure at Woodside Park.
Another signal failure – at Arnos Grove in north London – led to delays on the Tube’s Piccadilly line between Arnos Grove and Cockfosters.
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