Airports close amid some of the worst weather the UK has seen!

Weather - From the Met Office Official Website

Snow showers for eastern coasts. Dry and very cold elsewhere.

This Evening and Tonight:

Snow across southeastern parts of the UK will move away after midnight and most of the UK will be clear with a widespread severe frost. Snow showers are likely to continue in Northeast England, Eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Sunday:

Most of England and Wales will have a dry, very cold and mostly sunny day. Northeastern parts of England, parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland will see further snow showers.

Updated: 1519 on Sat 18 Dec 2010

Sunny Devon 18 December 2010

News!
Overnight temperatures plunged leaving huge swathes of the country at a standstill.  London's airports cancelled flights as they closed runways due to the icy conditions.  Also many regional airports closed as the icy conditions made runways unsafe! 

Airports in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands are also suffering cancellations and delays.

Officials have advised all passengers to check their flight status before travelling to their designated airport.

Belfast City Airport was closed last night while all flights were suspended at Belfast International Airport. Air passengers also faced disruptions at Exeter, London City, Aberdeen and Cardiff. 

From the BBC website 

"Gatwick reopened at 1445 GMT after 10cm of snow was cleared from the runway but delays and cancellations are expected for the rest of the day.

British Airways, Easyjet and Aer Lingus have cancelled all flights from the airport for the rest of Saturday, with the exception of the BA2055 to Sharm el Sheikh.

BA has cancelled all shorthaul flight from Heathrow for the rest of the day, and longhaul flights until at least 1900 GMT."

December 18 - Glasgow

Overnight blizzards and plummeting temperatures buckled a huge chunk of the nation's road network and hundreds of motorists were stranded overnight on the M6 Motorway in Greater Manchester.  Similar conditions have been reported in Germany and Italy.

Temperatures dropped as low as minus 13C in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, overnight with Gatwick producing a reading of minus 11C. 


This debilitating weather is certainly going to cause havoc in the run up to Christmas.  The last week before Christmas is the busiest of the year for retailers and courier companies.  Consumers are uncertain how to proceed with ordered goods - to cancel and get a refund or to wait and hope!  Christmas holiday makers too are facing the uncertainty of cancelled flights.  


This is set to be a Christmas that people wont forget in a hurry.  Next year - watch this space - Christmas shopping will be done a lot earlier I am sure!