Heathrow cancels flights as wind hits festive travel

Strong winds are continuing to cause some travel disruption in parts of the UK as millions of people travel ahead of Christmas.

Heathrow said around 100 flights had been cancelled on Sunday and passengers are advised to check with their airline before travelling.

The weather has also led to the "widescale cancellation" of ferry services across the Irish Sea and along the Scottish coast, road closures to high-sided vehicles and rail disruption.

A yellow warning for ice in north-east Scotland is in force until 10:00 GMT on Monday morning.

Parts of the UK were forecast to have winds of 50-60mph on Sunday, with the Met Office warning of gusts of up to 70mph in exposed coastal and hilly areas - a gust of 82mph was recorded in South Uist on the Western Isles on Saturday.

Saturday also saw disruption, with a number of ferries between Northern Ireland and Scotland cancelled, speed restrictions in place on some trains in Scotland, a "small number of flights" cancelled at Heathrow Airport due to "strong winds and airspace restrictions", and some road closures in exposed areas.

Travel expert Simon Calder said Sunday's 100 cancellations at Heathrow were "significant" and a much higher number than you would normally see on a typical Sunday.

He said they were caused by the predicted high wind speeds so the rate of arrivals - normally as many as one every 80 seconds - has to be extended.

Around 80 of the 100 flights cancelled were British Airways, Mr Calder said, and he estimated around 15,000 passengers would be affected in total.

A Heathrow spokesperson said "a small number" of flights had been cancelled "due to strong winds and airspace restrictions".

The airport advised passengers to check with their airline for the latest information about their flight.

A spokesperson for British Airways said that "adverse weather" and "restrictions" on the number of flights able to take off and land had led to "a small number of cancellations".

They added: "We're offering free flight changes for those customers booked on short-haul services who don't wish to travel this weekend, and we will be offering rebooking and refund options as always to those whose journeys are disrupted as a result of the restrictions."

NATs, which provides UK air traffic control, confirmed that "due to adverse weather, temporary air traffic restrictions are in place at Heathrow.

"Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety."

Mr Calder said there are "widescale cancellations" on ferry services across the Irish Sea and along the Scottish coast, with "things getting worse".

P&O Ferries said journeys between Larne and Cairnryan had been cancelled until at 23:00 GMT on Sunday.

NorthLink Ferries said it had cancelled all its sailings on Sunday, while CalMac cancelled a number of services and warned of "possible disruption" on other routes.

StenaLine warned of disruption and advised passengers to check the status of their ferry before travelling to the port.

Ferry company DFDS said it had cancelled seven services between Dover and Calais due to strong winds.

Network Rail warned that strong winds could "severely impact the railway, with train delays and cancellations".

ScotRail warned that some routes have speed restrictions in place, which would lead to delays, cancellations and revisions of timetables.

Great Western Railway said there are delays and some cancellations on the line between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton via Crediton, after services were earlier stopped on the line due to the weather.

Much quieter weather is expected from Monday onwards, she said, with temperatures gradually rising to leave all areas in double figures Celsius by Christmas Eve, with "weather impacts minimal over the Christmas period".

• What will the weather be like for the week ahead?

Motoring experts had warned this was the busiest weekend of travel this year, with the RAC urging drivers to "be patient".

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: "These are journeys that matter to us this time of year, don't expect to get there the minute your sat-nav says you will.

"Allow yourself a bit of time to make it easy and get there safely."

Mr Calder said that even though roads are expected to be busy on Sunday, they will likely be less busy than on Monday or Tuesday when people make their final getaways before Christmas.

Away from the roads, the first of the rail closures taking place over the festive period began on Saturday, with a section of the Midland Main line closed between London St Pancras and Bedford until 29 December as projects costing £29m are completed. This will affect travel to Luton Airport.

Engineering works will also impact other stations over Christmas, including Paddington and Liverpool Street in London, as well as in the Cambridge and Crewe areas.

Asked why so many trains are cancelled over Christmas for work to take place, at a time when people might be more likely to make leisure journeys and use trains if available, Robert Nisbet, the director of nations and regions at the Rail Delivery Group, which represents National Rail and train operators, said "plenty of thought" goes into closures and the festive period is chosen because "on the whole fewer people travel" then.

He added that the engineering works would improve services and reliability