Christmas getaways

Half a million Christmas getaways were put on hold or cancelled yesterday as Arctic blasts and heavy snowfalls shut airports and closed roads.

Christmas break travellers, many of whom had braved horrific conditions to get to their departure airports, were thrown into chaos yesterday as airports closed down and flights were cancelled. Both London Heathrow and London Gatwick gave up the struggle against snow on the runways, with British Airways the first to fold.

Families desperate to head for the sun after the past weeks of below freezing temperatures and deep snow were left queuing for hours in attempts to rebook their flights with other carriers. 2,000 angry BA customers saw their flights cancelled while other carriers’ aircraft were still taking off just yards from the terminal.

Passengers on domestic flights to the north, Scotland and the north-east were in an even worse position, with some Aberdeen travellers already stuck for three days with very little information. A student booked on BA’s Chicago flight couldn’t understand why the airline had cancelled all its flights before the snow began.

London Gatwick’s attempt to clear its runways by bringing in a huge fleet of 47 snowploughs, tractors and other vehicles ended in success, with the airport opening again yesterday afternoon. As of last night, Heathrow is still closed, and BA has announced snow and ice on its aircraft was the reason for its cancellation of all services.

In the rest of the country, motorways including the M6 were closed due to accidents and heavy snowfalls, trains were running at far below their normal capacity and hundreds of drivers were trapped in their cars for hours by the worsening weather. The M6 was worst affected, due at first to a jack-knifed lorry, with tailbacks extending to the M61 and M62.