Britain hit by freezing fog as flights across the UK cancelled and delayed as weather warning strikes – and more could be on its way

FREEZING fog has swept across parts of the UK causing widespread disruption at major airports as hundreds of thousands prepare for Christmas getaways.

Temperatures across parts of the UK fell to -4.5C overnight, resulting in a number of early morning departures out of Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports being either delayed or cancelled.

Heathrow Airport is currently experiencing an average delay of 10 minutes, with 62 flights cancelled already.

London City Airport has six cancellations and an average delay of around 20 minutes.

The freezing conditions and poor visibility mean both Heathrow and City feature in the world's top ten most delayed airports today.

British Airways tweeted: “We’re sorry that freezing fog forecast for Tuesday, December 19 has caused us to cancel some short-haul flights. Customers on short-haul flights which are operating may change their booking.”

Flights to Spain and Ireland have been hit with delays, with a number of Scottish, German and Italian routes also experiencing cancellations.

British Airways cancelled at least 49 departing and 49 arriving flights at Heathrow.

In a statement, the carrier said: "Forecast fog and freezing conditions across parts of southern England and northern Europe meant a slight reduction in our short-haul flight schedule this morning.

"We know that this is an important time for many families to travel and we are very sorry for the disruption to some of our customers' journeys."

Passengers who were due to fly to or from European destinations on Tuesday will be able to change their travel plans and re-book on to alternative flights up until Friday.

The travel chaos is expected to affect an estimated 20,000 people ahead of the festive weekend.

Heathrow Airport said a "small number of flights" were cancelled in advance due to poor visibility at the west London hub.

A spokeswoman said this decision was made in partnership with air traffic control provider Nats "as a last resort to ensure safety".

She added: "Regrettably, this may result in some passengers experiencing disruption to their journeys today and we advise they check flight status with airlines before travelling to the airport.

"As always, Heathrow's top priority is the safety of our passengers and we apologise to those whose travel may be impacted by the weather."

Overnight, Manchester Airport was forced to ground dozens of services as freezing conditions swept across the northern city.

No flights were able to take off or land at the north of England hub for several hours on Monday evening as one runway was shut due to fog and another closed for emergency maintenance.

The extreme conditions are expected to last throughout the day, although the Met Office’s yellow weather warning for the East Midlands, the East of England, London and the South East, North West England, South West England, Wales and the West Midlands was lifted shortly before midday.

The overnight frosty temperatures resulted in a rare weather phenomenon in the Scottish West Highlands this morning.

Eagle-eyed photographers noticed a 'fogbow' forming beside the Loch Baa on Rannoch Moor at sunrise.

Similar in some aspects to a traditional rainbow, a fogbow forms when sunlight interacts with tiny water droplets contained in fog, mist or clouds rather than larger raindrops.

These droplets, usually less than 0.1mm in diameter, cause light to diffract and thereby appear devoid of colour - which is why fogbows are often called white rainbows.

Brighter spells are expected in the South and South East of England later in the day, although patches of freezing fog and mist are expected on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Overnight temperatures are expected to remain above freezing, with a forecast low of 2C in the South as patchy rain moves in from the West.

Brighter conditions are expected in the North of England and Scotland, with highs of 13C expected in the West Midlands later today.

In Devon, a major road traffic accident has left one teenager dead and another fighting for his life after their vehicle careered off the A39 near Truro and hit a tree.

It is not yet known if the foggy conditions played a factor in the crash, which happened shortly before midnight.