London Stansted airport has been temporarily closed and Heathrow and Gatwick airports have experienced flight delays
MADRID, 12 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Three of the busiest airports in the United Kingdom have been forced to close their runways this Sunday due to the strong storm that has covered the country with snow and ice and has caused the parking of hundreds of planes, generating dozens of delays and cancellations of flights. Highways and railways have also been affected by the storm and full normality is not expected to resume for a few days.
As reported by the British newspaper ‘Daily Mail’, flights at London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports have been seriously disrupted, remaining on the ground and dozens of flights having to be diverted to other cities.
Through their Twitter accounts, airports have warned passengers about possible flight delays and have asked them to check with the airlines about their status and the weather forecast before leaving for the airports.
For their part, the airlines have also informed passengers of flight conditions and their policy of delays and cancellations through their social networks, ensuring that their teams “are working hard to minimize interruptions to customers.”
However, and given the seriousness of the interruptions, the users of the airlines that have been affected by the delays and cancellations have shown their discontent with the response of the different companies through social networks, denouncing the lack of information and staff at airports.
This is the case of dozens of Spaniards who remain trapped in London’s Stansted airport and who have suffered significantly from inclement weather in recent hours. According to the passengers, this icy weather had already been predicted, which is why they blame airports and airlines for their inability to clean the snow runways and anticipate the situation.
Some passengers have alleged that they have been trapped on board the aircraft at their airport of origin for several hours, since they have been allowed to board and later told that they could not leave due to the poor condition of the runways.
This is the case of the passengers, who had their flight back to Spain this Sunday with the Ryanair company, who denounce that the company offers them as the only solution that they find a flight on their own in the ‘online’ application, but until Saturday there are no return flights. Another proposed option is to fly to a different destination and then be able to take a rental vehicle to access your final destination.
Passengers report that no one from the company has contacted them or offered them any accommodation to spend the night despite being with children, the elderly and pregnant women who have had to wait in long lines sleeping at the airport.
Many passengers worked today or had to go to class, although at the moment they do not know how or when they will be able to return to Spain.
In the case of the Iberia company, the airline has confirmed to Europa Press that at the request of Heathrow airport, they have canceled a flight (IB3170 MAD-LON and its return IB3163), but they have changed the caliber of one of the flights that does operate putting an A350 to dock all customers.
The heavy snowfall has also caused numerous traffic accidents during the day on Sunday, as many drivers faced adverse conditions on the roads.
As reported by the BBC, the authorities advised drivers in the northwest of England to adapt their driving to the freezing conditions during the weekend and go out only if absolutely necessary, especially in areas where the snowfall has been recorded more strong in the areas of London, south-east and south-west England, central England and Northern Ireland,
In addition, several metro lines have been affected with stations closed and sections not operating.
The UK Met Office has declared the severe weather warning in effect until 09:00am this Monday (local time), warning of potential delays to both road and rail travel.
