Thousands of air passengers suffered disruption today after 80 flights were cancelled at Heathrow as the tail-end of a hurricane battered Britain.
British Airways grounded 20 departures as a precaution with destinations in the UK and Europe affected.
A German pilots’ strike caused a further 30 cancellations, bring the total of flights grounded at Heathrow to 110.
With the Hurricane Gonzalo moving east by mid morning, air passengers departing the UK were warned they may be hit by delays later in the day from European mainland airports.
Every major London rail terminus reported severe delays due to “poor autumn conditions” of heavy rains and leaves on the line.
Many trains into London Liverpool Street ran an hour late, including trains to and from Stansted Airport.
Due to the high winds, the Thames cable car was halted and ferry services were disrupted.
The decision to cancel flights was taken last night between Heathrow and the airlines so passengers could be re-booked on later flights.
The worst-affected destinations were Barcelona, Belfast, Edinburgh, Geneva, Madrid, Manchester and Newcastle, while the only transatlantic cancellation was Air Canada’s departure to St John’s in Newfoundland.
Passengers flying to Frankfurt or Munich and onward aboard the German airline, Lufthansa, face further misery because of a pilots’s strike that disrupted 200,000 travellers yesterday.
Simone Gasser, 45, a hairdresser, flying to Frankfurt, said: “I’m selling my salon in Strasbourg and need to be there for the final bit, handing over the keys and that so this has really put me out. I am so angry. I only found out on the way to the airport when my boyfriend called to tell me – the airline should at least inform people.
“I have no idea what happens now but I might have to up to Stansted for a flight leaving this afternoon.”
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/hurricane-gonzalo-heathrow-cancels-flights-as-uk-braces-for-battering-9807377.html