Bristol Airport reopens following snow but warns of further delays due to 'challenging conditions'

Bristol Airport has reopened after being forced to close it's runway due to snowfall - but more than 20 flights have been delayed

The hub was temporarily shut to air traffic as the city experienced heavy snowfall on the evening of Saturday 4 January, leading to several flights being diverted to Birmingham and one to Cardiff.

The airport reopened around 11pm on Saturday, but has warned of further disruption due to aircraft being in the wrong locations due to the diversions. By midday on Sunday 5 January, 23 flights were listed as delayed or having their estimated take off time pushed back - including that was due to fly the previous day.

On Saturday evening, passengers at Bristol Airport complained of delays to flights, with one traveller describing the situation at around 3am on Sunday morning as a "shambles" with "huge delays and absolute chaos in the baggage hall".

A spokesperson for the airport apologised for the delays to luggage delivery and said ground agents were working "as quickly as possible".

The closure came as Bristol was placed under a yellow weather warning for snow. This has now passed and the whole of the South West is currently under a yellow weather warning for rain, which is in place until 9am on Monday 6 January.

In a statement posted to X, a spokesperson for Bristol Airport apologised for the inconvenience and said: "Bristol Airport has reopened tonight but there are still challenging weather conditions.

"There may be delays on Sunday morning as some aircraft are out of position. Passengers are advised to check with their airline."

The airport's live departure board showed a number of delays and cancellations as of 11am on Sunday.

A Ryanair flight to Prague scheduled to take off at 7:20pm on Saturday was estimated to be departing at 12:50pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile TUI flights to Toulouse and Lanzarote scheduled to leave at 8:05am and 8:40am respectively were both delayed until after midday.

Flights to Barcelona, Lisbon and Newcastle were also shown to be delayed until the afternoon - with one pushed back by more than five and a half hours.

By midday on Sunday, 23 flights were listed as delayed, with some scheduled for the evening and already being pushed back.

One flight to Paris due to take off at 7pm has already been delayed by 20 minutes by lunchtime, while another plane to Newcastle which was due to depart at 7:40pm is now delayed until 9pm.

A spokesperson for the airport told ITV West Country: "There may be some disruption due to our closure last night and snow impacting airports in other parts of the UK today.

"Passengers are advised to check their airline’s website or app for more information.”