Flights in and out of London’s airports have been hit by major delays and cancellations as a blanket of thick fog descended on the capital.
Londoners awoke on Saturday to mist and thick fog which has sparked severe travel disruption at the capital’s airports on one of the busiest days for passengers in the winter as people head off on Christmas getaways.
Scores of flights at Heathrow and London City Airport have been grounded, diverted or cancelled with planes also held up at Gatwick.
Bosses at City Airport described the fog as “significant” as they urged travellers to check journeys with their airlines.
Angry passengers complained they were stranded on runways for up to four hours because of the visibility at London’s hubs.
Martin Gilbraith tweeted: “Canarian sunshine beckons, but pretty much everything at Heathrow this morning is delayed by fog”.
Graham Pratt wrote: “Sitting patiently on the BA Newcastle-Heathrow 9.35am flight at a remote stand at Newcastle. A four-hour delay so far due to London fog.”
Alan Reed posted: “Delayed at Heathrow due to fog. That's never happened to me before.”
Ulster Unionist Party politician Jo-Anne Dobson wrote: “Fog in London: A real #peasouper here at Gatwick Airport - When the only place I want to be is back in Northern Ireland.”
Two British Airways flights have reportedly been diverted to Newcastle and Glasgow because of the fog while an emergency was declared on an incoming Virgin Atlantic flight at Heathrow before landing safely.
Traveller Laura Bailey described how planes were forced to queue on the runway at Gatwick.
She said: "We were waiting in the queue to take off and can't even see the planes on the runway."
A Heathrow spokesman said around 50 flights had been cancelled so far.
He said: “There are currently delays to flights at Heathrow because of fog across the south east and large parts of Europe. The fog and mist are slowly improving.”
While London City Airport tweeted: “Significant fog in London is continuing to cause flight delays & cancellations. Passengers affected are advised to speak to their airline.”
A Gatwick spokeswoman said planes were still taking off and landing but that the fog had caused some operational delays.
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The fresh disruption comes after bad weather sparked major delays at London City Airport on Thursday when dozens of flights were grounded.
