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Wintry weather causes airport disruption

[January 5th 2009]

Ice and snow have caused disruption at a number of UK airports this morning including Luton, Birmingham and East Midlands.

At Luton airport there has been widespread disruption and many flights have been delayed. For example, the easyJet flight to Palma scheduled to leave at 7.45 now has an estimated departure time of 12.15. Other delayed flights include easyJet departures to Belfast International airport and Bordeaux.

Luton airport is advising passengers to check with their airline for the latest flight information. Airlines flying from the airport include Flybe, Monarch, Ryanair and Thomson Airways.

The runway at Birmingham airport was closed earlier this morning for around an hour and a half due to icy conditions. The runway is now open but there has been a knock-on effect and several flights have been delayed.

Among the affected flights were departures to New York, originally scheduled for 9.00 which took off at 10.50, the 9.10 flight to Glasgow which departed at 10.43, and the 9.35 to Brussels which left at 10.45.

Currently delayed flights from Birmingham airport include departures to Edinburgh, Paris, Brussels and Geneva. Some flights have been cancelled, including services to Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Flights from East Midlands airport have also been disrupted this morning due to icy weather. The flight to Wroclaw originally scheduled to leave at 9.25 departed at 11.03, the 10.15 service to Cologne has been delayed to 13.00, while the 10.25 flight to Madeira has also been delayed to 12.15.

On the trains the West coast mainline is still disrupted between London Euston and Birmingham New Street and London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly because of problems with the overhead wires at Watford Junction. Virgin Trains is currently running a reduced service on these routes.

Motorways and major roads around the country have been unaffected so far by the ice and snow. Ferries are also reported to be running normally, with the exception of sailings between Holyhead and Dublin which have been cancelled because of a technical problem.

Written by: Nick Purdom

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