British Airways forced to cancel flights as Storm Gerrit sparks post-Christmas nightmare

Air traffic control restrictions mean the BA flights due to operate to or from London’s Heathrow Airport have been axed.

They were return domestic trips to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey and Manchester, and to Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid and Paris Charles de Gaulle in mainland Europe.

A British Airways spokesman said: “As a result of air traffic control restrictions put in place because of Storm Gerrit, we have had to make some adjustments to our schedule today.

“We have apologised to our customers for any disruption to their travel plans and our teams are working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”

There have also been minor delays at Manchester, with domestic flights to London and international flights to Lisbon delayed.

Domestic flights to London from Glasgow Airport have also been delayed or cancelled.

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It comes as Met Office has issued nine yellow weather warnings across the UK as Britons brace for weather turmoil caused in the wake of Storm Gerrit. Wind warnings are in place for the south of England and across the English Channel coast.

There are also warning for wind in parts of western Wales, north-west England, Northern Ireland, northern Scotland and the northern isles.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “Storm Gerrit will run towards western UK on Wednesday and bring with it potential impacts for much of the UK.

“Winds across southern coastal areas of England will be strong, possibly peaking around 70 mph on exposed coastlines, but more widely around 50-60 mph within the warning area.

Saunders added: “Rain is an additional hazard from Storm Gerrit, with active weather fronts leading to a wet day for many.

“Snow is also likely to cause problems for some northern areas: only briefly for a few upland routes across the Pennines and southern Scotland overnight and early on Wednesday, but more widely to the north of the Central Lowlands later in the day.

“Here around 10 to possibly 20cm of snow may affect some of the highest routes, this combining with very strong winds to lead to some difficult travel conditions.

“At lower levels a combination of heavy rain and very strong winds will dominate.”