Popular airlines Jet2 and Ryanair have issued a warning to travelers planning to fly with them to or from the UK over the next few days, as the country braces itself for extremely wild winter weather.
Brought on by a rush of Arctic air, this “disruptive” cold snap is set to bring travel chaos and winter hazards, with Storm Bert, freshly named by forecasters on Thursday, is to bring gale force winds, with a new amber warning for snow and ice issued today and multiple yellow warnings already in place.
Jet2 – which operates flights from 13 UK airports, including Glasgow and Edinburgh – said its operations team is “continually monitoring the UK forecast” to give the most updated information on departures and arrivals as the cold front approaches.
It said: “As usual, we plan to operate all our flights on schedule, however, there may be some disruption if the weather worsens. If your flight is disrupted, we’ll contact you via SMS and email.”
Ryanair – which also operates flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh, explained to passengers they will be notified of any potential disruption and customers should check their Ryanair app for the latest flight updates.
The budget airline added that it regrets “any inconvenience caused to passengers by these weather conditions, which are outside of Ryanair’s control,” and said that the weather is affecting “all airlines.”
Ice in particular can cause serious issues for aircraft, as well as also affecting runways and ground equipment. Ice can gather in the wheel wells, brake mechanisms and flap hinges of planes, preventing them from operating properly. Ice on runways and taxiways can also cause braking problems.
A yellow weather warning for snow, rain and ice is in place across the UK, which ranges from as far North as Talmine in the Highlands all the way down to Stoke-on-Trent in England. It comes after two separate alerts were published by the national forecaster on Wednesday (November 20), the first being for snow and second for ice.
Snow has already blanketed parts of Scotland, with schools in Aberdeenshire and the Highlands forced to close.
You can check the latest status of flights leaving from Edinburgh Airport here and from Glasgow Airport here.
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