Fog grounds planes at airport
MANCHESTER Airport’s two runways were shut down and dozens of flights cancelled or delayed as thick fog caused travel chaos across Greater Manchester.
All flights in and out of the airport were suspended yesterday afternoon.
Bosses were first forced to close the airport’s second runway due to safety reasons because of the fog.
Then a ‘minor defect’ discovered on the airport’s first runway led to its temporary closure while essential repairs were carried out.
The double shutdown affected all flights due to land and depart from Manchester.
The airport confirmed the first runway re-opened at around 5pm but as a result of the closure, flights were hit by ongoing delays to clear the backlog.
Last night the second runway remained closed.
Reports suggested many flights were delayed by two or three hours, with passengers stranded at airports unable to fly home.
All travellers were advised to check the status of their flights with their airlines, although it’s not known how many flights were hit in total.
Flights from Manchester to airports including Paris, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Zurich were cancelled, alongside domestic flights to Scotland, Ireland and Southampton Airport.
Images taken at the airport showed fog enveloping planes.
Meanwhile rush-hour commuters faced delays on the roads and motorways due to thick fog – with more of the same predicted for today.
The Met Office issued an updated weather warning yesterday afternoon and said patches of freezing fog were likely to thicken quickly during the course of the morning rushhour – with warnings suggesting visibility could be cut to just 100 metres.
Issuing the weather warning, the Met Office said: “Slower journey times are likely with some delays to bus and train services possible.
“Some delays and cancellations to flights are also possible. This may lead to visibilities falling below 100 metres in places.
“Given the time of year only a slow improvement to conditions is expected on Tuesday morning though cloud arriving from the west may help lift the fog.”