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Heavy snow hits England and many airports affected

Sunday 06 Apr 2008 8:20pm

A total of 185 flights at Heathrow Airport had to be cancelled today after heavy snow and bad weather hit England in the early morning. Flights across the rest of Europe were also affected by the bad weather and Heathrow's runway had to be closed briefly due to heavy snow. Cold weather and snow causes delays on both landing and taking-off for planes. Snow-blowers and snow-brushers are using on runways to remove snow that builds up to make it safe for planes to land. This additional work reduces the number of flights than can land and also take-off. Planes also have to be de-iced before take-off - which takes more time than normal - to ensure that no essential mechanical parts of the wings or rudder are frozen stiff. Out of hte 185 cancelled flights at Heathrow, more than 100 of these were at the new Terminal 5 - operated by British Airways. Yesterday, the baggage-handling system stopped working due to a software fault resulting in many bags being left behind. Baggage handlers were reported to have worked all through the night to sort bags by hand so they could be sent on to the proper destination. A spokesman said that it was extremely unfortunate for British Airways to have been hit by the snow today and minor baggage handling problems yesterday on which would have been the airline's first full-scheduled weekend since its new Terminal 5 opened to aircraft and passengers. For all passengers flying when there is unexpected snow or bad weather, Flyingabroad. co. uk would always advise contacting your airline, or airline's website before travelling.

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