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UK weather: Storm Katie hits with 100mph winds to force cancellation of dozens of Heathrow and Gatwick flights UK weather: Dozens of Heathrow and Gatwick flights cancelled as Storm Katie hits with 100mph winds
(about 1 hour later)
Storm Katie is tearing up the flight schedules at many airports in southern England, with dozens of planes and thousands of passengers in the wrong places.  Storm Katie has wrecked the flight schedules at airports in southern England, with dozens of planes and thousands of passengers in the wrong places. Many morning arrivals due to touch down at Heathrow and Gatwick were diverted to airports hundreds of miles away. At Gatwick some flights tried to land but were forced to abandoned the attempts. They diverted to Birmingham, Manchester and other airports.
Many early morning arrivals at Heathrow and Gatwick have been diverted, with the British Airways flights from Johannesburg landing at Shannon in Ireland and Glasgow. BA arrivals from Singapore, Delhi and Dubai are on the ground at Manchester. The Sao Paulo and Bombay services have arrived at Birmingham, and some New York passengers are in Newcastle. Movements at Heathrow were disrupted due to a decision by air-traffic controllers to reduce the “flow rate” - i.e. increase the distance between arriving aircraft. Heathrow is the busiest two-runway airport in the world, and at the morning peak for arrivals there is little slack in the system to cope with disruption. 
Air-traffic controllers have reduced the “flow rate” at both Heathrow and Gatwick. They are respectively the busiest two-runway and single-runway airports in the world, and as a result there is little resilience to cope with disruption.  The most extreme diversions appear to have been the overnight British Airways flights from Johannesburg. One landed at Glasgow, the other at Shannon in the west of Ireland. Other intercontinental arrivals from Singapore, Delhi and Dubai turned up in Manchester. The Sao Paulo and Bombay services flew via Birmingham, and some New York passengers spent time on the ground in Newcastle before arriving at Heathrow around three hours late.
Travellers heading back from Easter breaks could be affected by a more than 100 cancellations to and from London today. BA alone has cancelled more than 50 flights to and from Heathrow so far today, with additional cancellations from Gatwick. Most are short-haul trips, but at least one transatlantic service - to Washington DC - has been cancelled. With aircraft and crew out of position, the number is likely to rise. Short-haul flights to Heathrow from Gothenburg and Dusseldorf were diverted to Stansted and Manchester respectively.
BA has cancelled more than 50 flights to and from Heathrow so far today, with additional cancellations from Gatwick. Most are short-haul trips, but at least one transatlantic service - to Washington DC - has been cancelled. 
A spokeswoman for British Airways told The Independent: “As a result of Storm Katie causing poor weather at Heathrow and Gatwick we are experiencing delays and a number of cancellations to our schedule today. 
“We are sorry for any disruption to customers' travel plans and we would advise customers to check ba.com for the latest information about their flight.
Many other airlines have been affected, with American Airlines, South African Airways and United long-haul arrivals diverted.Many other airlines have been affected, with American Airlines, South African Airways and United long-haul arrivals diverted.
Arrivals at the world’s busiest single-runway airport, Gatwick, have been also been heavily disrupted. The biggest airline at the Sussex airport, easyJet, has so far cancelled 10 flights to and from destinations including Athens, Munich and Nice. At Gatwick, thousands of easyJet passengers faced delays and cancellations. The initial 10 cancellations, to and from destinations including Athens, Munich and Nice, are likely to be joined by many others.
The airline says: “Many of our aircraft had to divert to other airports across the UK, as a result of this a number of our aircraft are not in London Gatwick for this morning. Our operations team have made multiple changes to our flying programme in order to limit the disruption to our flights this morning, however we advise all passengers to refer back to flight tracker for the latest information.” Gatwick is easyJet’s main base, and the first wave of flights was severely disrupted. Dozens were cancelled or severely delayed. Passengers on the 6am flight to Lanzarote finally took off at noon.
BA inbound services to Gatwick from Alicante and Malaga have been diverted to Manchester, with the Venice flight landing at Birmingham. Curiously, BA’s Toronto-Heathrow service was diverted to Gatwick. In an online statement, easyJet said:“Many of our aircraft had to divert to other airports across the UK, as a result of this a number of our aircraft are not in London Gatwick for this morning. Our operations team have made multiple changes to our flying programme in order to limit the disruption to our flights this morning.”
The storm is likely to prove costly for the airlines. Besides losing revenue from cancelled flights, they are also obliged to provide care for stranded passengers until they can get them to their destinations.  With knock-on disruption rippling into the afternoon and evening schedules, travellers heading back from Easter breaks could face waits of many hours or even days. If a flight on a particular route is cancelled, passengers go to the back of the queue - they are not automatically accommodated on the next flight.
The storm will prove costly for the airlines. Besides losing revenue from cancelled flights, they are also obliged to provide care for stranded passengers until they can get them to their destinations.
Ferries and trains have also been disrupted by the strong winds that swept across the region during the morning. P&O Ferries, the biggest operator between Dover and Calais, asked travellers to check-in as normal for their booked sailing time, but warned: “Due to adverse weather conditions our services are subject to delays.”
On the railways, the effects of the planned Easter engineering work have been exacerbated by fallen trees on a number of lines in Surrey and Sussex.On the railways, the effects of the planned Easter engineering work have been exacerbated by fallen trees on a number of lines in Surrey and Sussex.