Flights at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports are currently facing delays stretching up to six hours as a recent heatwave gives way to intense thunderstorms. By Saturday, over 600 flights had been delayed across both major hubs, with dozens of others cancelled due to the challenging weather conditions. The United Kingdom’s air traffic control service, NATS, has indicated that these delays are likely to persist for the remainder of the day, following forecasts of severe weather across the south-east of England.
Data provided by FlightAware shows that at least 367 flights arriving at or departing from Heathrow have been delayed so far on Saturday, while Gatwick has recorded 352 similar incidents. According to the European aviation agency Eurocontrol, Heathrow and Gatwick remain the only two airports in the UK currently grappling with heavy delays linked to the thunderstorms. The most significant air traffic control issues are concentrated in the airspace between south-east England and north-western Europe, where storm clouds are currently located. However, flights using paths outside this zone are still maintaining their regular schedules.
The impact of the weather is varied; for instance, a live departure board at Gatwick displayed an Easyjet flight to Antalya delayed from 11:50 BST to 18:00. Other services, including those operated by British Airways at Heathrow, have faced four-hour delays. One passenger, 29-year-old Adam Joseph, reported being stranded at Venice airport without air conditioning, noting his flight to Gatwick had been delayed by four hours. He was originally scheduled to depart at 12:30 local time, but the aircraft had not yet completed its outbound journey from London. He expressed frustration at the lack of communication from British Airways and the claim that he would not be eligible for compensation due to air traffic control restrictions.
Gatwick has confirmed that temporary air traffic control restrictions are in place, while Easyjet has apologized for the disruptions. One social media user reported that her daughter had been stuck on an Easyjet plane at Gatwick for four hours before the flight was eventually cancelled. Easyjet stated that it has been forced to pre-emptively cancel some flights to and from Gatwick due to the limited number of arrivals and departures permitted by the weather. The airline is working to offer passengers options for rebooking, refunds, or necessary hotel and meal accommodations. British Airways also confirmed adjustments to its schedule, apologizing for the inconvenience while maintaining that most passengers remain unaffected by the adverse weather conditions. While an amber heat warning remains in place for parts of England until 09:00 BST on Sunday, the thunderstorms are expected to worsen throughout Saturday afternoon.
