EASYJET has been forced to ground flights at a major UK airport as thick fog sparks travel chaos on the busiest day of the festive period.
Some travellers making a desperate New Year’s Eve travel dash from Gatwick Airport have been hit with delays and cancellations.
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The airline revealed several flights due to leave the London airport are “now unable to operate as planned”.
EasyJet blamed poor weather conditions which have caused delays and “air traffic control restrictions”.
The airline has advised passengers to check the status of their flights if they are due to leave from Gatwick tonight.
Today is understood to be Gatwick’s busiest day of the festive season.
Gatwick Airport currently has around 30 cancelled departures and 28 cancelled arrivals out of 769 flights on Sunday.
The departures board on Gatwick’s website also shows delays for a large number of flights this afternoon.
The country’s main air traffic control provider, Nats, revealed travel chaos would continue on today due to low visibility.
A Nats spokesperson said: “While the weather conditions have improved, fog continues to affect some airports in London today.”
Passengers at Edinburgh Airport have also reported multiple delays and cancellations today.
One holidaymaker said on social media that people had been left “in tears” after the disruption.
He wrote: “Chaotic still at Edinburgh Airport – many flights delayed, some cancelled, one passenger in tears.
“My 8pm easyJet flight yesterday was cancelled… now rescheduled flight today is 2hrs late. A 23hr delay so far… no easyJet staff around to help.”
Heathrow, Stansted, and Luton Airports said flights had not been affected by the weather today.
This travel mayhem comes after 19 flights were cancelled at Heathrow and 16 at Gatwick yesterday.
Nearly 800 flights were delayed at the two London airports – with disruption set to drag on today.
A Nats spokesperson said: “Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety. We continue to monitor the situation.
“We have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information.”
At least five outbound EasyJet flights from Gatwick to European airports were delayed this morning.
Today will be wet and windy in the north, with heavy outbreaks of rain across Scotland.
It will be more settled further south, although cloudy to start – before sunny spells develop into the afternoon.
The skies will stay cloudy across western hills, with persistent patchy drizzle in places.
Tonight will be widely cloudy with rain sinking slowly southwards across Scotland, falling as snow across the higher ground.
There will be patchy rain elsewhere, though feeling chilly beneath clearer skies in the far south.
Tomorrow will remain wet in Scotland with snow possible in some places.
Elsewhere there will be plenty of cloud with patchy light rain in the west and wind across the Pennines.
It will be mild for most Brits before frequent heavy showers and strong winds arrive over New Year’s Eve and into the new year.
The mercury will sink from Thursday onwards – with blustery, perhaps wintry, showers.
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