Travel chaos continues as fog sparks disruption for thousands post-Christmas ...Middle East

Thick fog continued to cause disruption to post-Christmas travel as thousands experienced disruption across the rail, road and air networks.

Air restrictions were in place on Sunday covering Gatwick airport due to the fog, while train lines taking passengers to Manchester airport were closed after power cables on the line were stolen.

Around 60 flights were delayed from Gatwick on Sunday afternoon, with disruption affecting domestic flights to Glasgow and Jersey as well as a number of European and international destinations such as Istanbul, Marrakech and Paris.

It comes on one of the busiest weekends of the year to travel ahead of the New Year. Sunday alone was due to be the busiest day of the festive period for Gatwick airport, with 769 flights scheduled.

At Heathrow a similar number of flights were delayed while at least 15 have been cancelled. Flights were called off domestically to Glasgow and Edinburgh, to European destinations including Amsterdam and Dusseldorf, as well as long haul trips to Dallas and New York.

Around ten flights were currently delayed late on Sunday afternoon on Luton airport’s live departures board while delays were also reported at Manchester airport.

A Nats spokesman said: “While the weather conditions have improved, fog continues to affect some airports in London today.

“Temporary air traffic restrictions are therefore in place at airfields with low visibility to maintain safety.

“Our teams are working closely with the airports and airlines to minimise disruption but passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline.”

Keira Quayle was due to fly home from a Christmas spent visiting family on the Isle of Man on Friday, but had to rebook the next available flight to Gatwick on Sunday after her original flight was cancelled due to thick fog.

One of the many passengers to be hit by delays and cancellations over the weekend due to poor weather conditions, the 30-year-old told The i Paper the experience has been “incredibly stressful” and that she felt “frustrated and annoyed”.

Passengers trying to get to Manchester airport on Sunday afternoon have had to find alternative routes as railway routes in are closed after power cables were stolen in a Christmas robbery.

More than £100,000 worth of cables were stolen from the railway line between Preston and Bolton over Christmas.

Repair work is being carried out and is expected to be completed by around 6pm on Sunday according to Network Rail.

Rail replacements are running from central Manchester and Blackpool to reach the airport.

There is disruption to Northern Rail services between Manchester Victoria and Leeds due to train crew members being “unavailable”.

Other routes throughout the north west of England are also expected to see disruption on Sunday for the same reason. Trains between Manchester, Sheffield, Blackpool and Preston are affected.

The Transpennine Express has cancelled two services this afternoon between Edinburgh and Manchester Airport due to “urgent repairs” needed on the track.

Elsewhere in the country, Southern Rail said its services between Brighton and Lewes were cancelled due to damage on the track, but there is no indication that this has been caused by weather.

London Paddington station remains closed on Sunday for planned works. Trains from Devon, Cornwall and South Wales which usually run to the station were diverted to Euston.

Avanti West Coast which operates cross country trains between Glasgow and London, had previously warned there may be disruption this weekend with “trains expected to be very busy” due to planned engineering work by Network Rail.

More train travel disruption to cross country is expected in the New Year, as Avanti West Coast commences a new round of industrial action on 31 December.

Avanti strikes are scheduled to take place on Sundays between 12 January to 25 May 2025.

The Met Office issued advice on driving in thick fog from the RAC ahead of the weekend, with motorists advised to get familiar with their fog lights and wind down the windows at junctions to allow them to listen for traffic when visibility is impacted.

The travel disruption is unlikely to be over after Sunday as the Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings ahead of New Year’s Eve.

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The skies are expected to brighten later as the fog, which could reduce visibility to just 100 metres in some areas, will thin. But the Met Office has warned of blasts of snow and rain ahead of New Year’s Eve.

A yellow weather warning for snow and rain is in place for Scotland in the build up to Hogmanay, which the Met Office warned could result in “significant disruption”.

ScotRail has said while it plans to operate a normal service on Monday, disruption to services “may occur” and anyone planning to travel on Scotland’s trains should check before they travel.

A yellow weather warning for wind in northern England on Monday has also been issued. Gusts of up to 60mph are possible which may cause travel delays and power cuts.

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