Flight delays continue as heavy fog forecast to linger into weekend

ITV News' David Harper has the latest from Heathrow, as poor visibility disrupts flights for a second day

Foggy weather has brought a fresh round of travel delays to passengers at one of the country's busiest airports, as forecasters predict low visibility will remain into the weekend.

Passengers at Gatwick have been warned to expect possible delays on Saturday because of heavy fog, after Friday saw some face waits of up to three hours.

A spokesperson for the airport said: “Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place due to fog causing poor visibility.

"Some flights may be delayed throughout the day. London Gatwick apologises for any inconvenience. Passengers should contact their airline for further information.”

Flights at Stansted airport have also been affected by the weather conditions, while live departure boards showed delays at Heathrow, Luton and Manchester airports.

Meanwhile, NATS, the UK’s main air traffic control provider, said on Saturday temporary air restrictions would remain in place in areas with low visibility.

A spokesperson added: “Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety.

“We continue to monitor the situation and have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information.

“Our teams are working closely with the airports and airlines to minimise disruption.”

The Met Office warned thick fog patches in some parts of the country could reduce visibility down to just 100 metres early on Saturday.

“There is a lot of fog covering much of England, mainly the South East and central England, but the rest of the country is seeing quite a bit of thick fog too," Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said.

“It will be pretty murky on Saturday morning and there will still be fog patches that will take a little longer to clear.”

Fog levels could sink a little lower on Saturday so higher hills could be clearer, he added.

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The Met Office has advised motorists to go steady when they are driving in foggy conditions. It suggested travellers to allow “a little bit longer” for journeys and warned drivers to leave extra braking distances in areas with poor visibility.

It comes after air traffic restrictions were put in place on Friday, with passengers at Gatwick experiencing delays of up to three hours due to the murky weather.

Dense fog across the north west led to more than 40 flights departing from Manchester Airport being disrupted or delayed.

Sunday is expected to be the airport’s busiest day during the holiday period, with 769 flights planned. Foggy conditions are expected to clear on Sunday, according to the Met Office.

Lingering low cloud should start to move off as stronger winds “pick up and turn over these cloudy and murky conditions”, Mr Eslick said.

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