More than 600 flights at Heathrow, Gatwick, and London City airports have been cancelled or delayed due to severe thunderstorms that hit London and the South East on Saturday, June 27. The storms, which began early in the morning, have prompted temporary air traffic control restrictions, causing widespread disruption for passengers.
Flight disruption numbers
According to flight tracker FlightAware, at least 367 flights arriving at or departing from Heathrow have been delayed so far on Saturday. At Gatwick, 352 flights have been delayed. Both airports have implemented temporary restrictions on air traffic to manage the weather conditions. London City Airport also experienced cancellations, including a British Airways flight scheduled to Toulon-Hyeres Airport.
Airlines respond to delays
British Airways and easyJet are among the airlines affected. An easyJet spokesperson said: "Due to thunderstorms in the south of the UK which is restricting the number of arrivals and departures today, like other airlines we are experiencing some disruption to our flying programme and have had to pre-emptively cancel some flights to and from Gatwick in advance. We are doing all possible to minimise the impact of the weather disruption for our customers and are notifying passengers in advance with their options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required."
Impact on passengers
Delays vary significantly. Gatwick's live departure board showed an easyJet flight to Antalya delayed from 11:50am to 6pm on Saturday. Other flights have been delayed by up to four hours. Eurocontrol reported the most severe air traffic control delays in airspace between south-east England and north-western Europe, where the storm clouds are currently located. However, flights on routes outside the storm area are operating on time.
Weather warnings remain
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for extreme heat, which remains in effect for London and the South East until 9am on Sunday, June 28. Further thunderstorms are possible. The latest update states: "Very hot and humid weather will continue to affect eastern and southeastern England but likely a few degrees cooler than the previous few days. Temperatures will still widely exceed 30 Celsius, peaking around 32-33 Celsius in London or East Anglia." Overnight temperatures are unlikely to fall below high teens Celsius, with some areas not dropping below 20 Celsius. Fresher conditions are expected to arrive from the west later on Sunday.
