Snow bomb sparks chaos as Brits left flying in circles as main UK airports shut
As Britain continues to be battered by heavy snow fall that has sparked travel chaos up and down the UK, planes have been forced to circle around a major airport as it shuts its runways
Jet passengers heading to the UK must be going dizzy as they’re forced to circle one of Britain’s biggest airports after heavy snow saw it to close its runways.
The blizzard that started sweeping across Britain yesterday, Saturday, January 4, has sparked chaos at Manchester Airport, which has been forced to close it’s runways after the region was blasted with a huge snow bomb. The closure has lead to long delays on outward bound flights, while incoming flights have been forced to circle the airport, unable to land.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport has also posted on X this morning to say the runway is “temporarily closed” due to snow but the airport remains open. “We are working hard to clear the runway”. Birmingham Airport suspended operations for a time overnight but said it was on schedule for “business as usual” again this morning.
On Sunday morning, Manchester airport said it was looking to clear its runways ‘as quickly as possible’ but that they remained closed, with a number of flights impacted.
A storm and aviation fanatic who goes by the name Aviation Mike on X, shared maps of a number of planes, mostly long-haul, hovering around the airport, and above Liverpool, in the hope the weather will clear up.
He captioned the maps with: “Manchester Airport (MAN) is currently not letting planes in or out due to snow. There are a few planes coming from far out trying to hold as long as they can in hopes they’ll open the runways in time for them to land, but most are diverting.”
A Brit whose family’s flight has been caught up in the travel chaos took to the social media platform to ponder what will happen to them, as their arrival remains literally up in the air.
They said: “My family is currently circling around aiming to land at Manchester Airport I wonder what’s gonna happen to the arrival flights.”
Manchester bound planes have also been diverted to other airports. Aviation Mike shared another map which shows the Juneyao Air (DKH1661) 787 Dreamliner flight, that after a 13.5 hour flight from Shanghai, appears to be diverting to Birmingham. Another X users commented that the Orlando to Manchester flight landed in Glasgow.
In a statement Manchester Airport said: “Our runways are temporarily closed due to heavy snow, as our teams work hard to clear them as quickly as possible. The safety of our passengers is our top priority, and we appreciate your patience during this time.
“”Please check with your airline for the latest flight information and allow extra travel time today. We will update you as soon as possible. Thank you.”
