Half-term Heathrow chaos? More snow to hit the airport this weekend

As if the great half-term getaway isn't busy enough already, holidaymakers are being warned there could be travel disruption as Heathrow is set to receive more snow this weekend.

The Met Office has said the snowfall is likely to be light, predicting around 1cm to fall at the weekend.

The airport cancelled a series of flights over the last three days because of the 7cm of snow that hit over the weekend; 40 flights were pulled yesterday, while half of Sunday's scheduled flights were axed.

But, according to the Metro, the airport defended its decision to cancel flights, saying: "By cancelling flights in advance, airlines have been able to rebook some people on to flights that are departing, and passengers have had better quality information about whether they can fly or not."

The spokesman added that as they run at "99% capacity, it is the only way to get slack in the system".

Passengers queue at Heathrow on Monday after a third of flights were cancelled. PA

David Cameron's spokesman also agreed with the decision to cancel a third of yesterday's flights. telling the Telegraph: "BAA and Heathrow had to make some judgments on the basis of the best information at the time, and they decided to cancel some flights.

"Part of the reason for this is that last time we had problems with snow, we had significant queues and problems in airport terminals because people were turning up for flights that then didn't run.

"One of the recommendations from the inquiry that followed that experience was that airlines and airports needed to make those judgments slightly earlier to avoid that kind of disruption. That's what happened here."

Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned that tonight could be the coldest night of winter so far, with temperatures dipping to -13C.

The cold snap yesterday affected the return to work, with widespread road and rail travel chaos caused by ice and snow.

The RAC even reported its busiest February weekend ever, with call-outs up 41%, according to the Daily Mail.

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