Thick Fog in UK Causes Travel Disruption for Skiers

It comes as people return from an Xmas break in the mountains or head out for New Year.

Airports affected by problems from the fog include Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff.

The UK’s main air traffic control provider, NATS, said “temporary” air restrictions would remain for places with low visibility.

“Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety,” said NATS.

“We continue to monitor the situation and have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information.”

Forecasters said the fog would persist across much of England and Wales and was likely to linger, especially across southern areas, but conditions could improve later.

There has been a knock on impact at the alpine gateway airports with transfers to and from ski resorts affected.

Ben’s Bus says it is doing its very best.

On Saturday, 20 flights at Heathrow have been cancelled so far with another 29 delayed, while at Gatwick, 26 are delayed and one has been cancelled.

A Gatwick spokesperson said: “Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place due to fog causing poor visibility.”

The airport apologised for any inconvenience, adding that delays could last all day.

Gatwick airport. Image © PlanetSKI

The problems have been compounded by planes and crews being in the work place after problems on Friday.

The persistent low cloud, mist and fog has been trapped in place by a slow-moving area of high pressure.

Conditions are expected to improve with sunny spells across much of the country on Sunday burning off the fog.

People are advised to check with their airline for the latest information.

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