Travel chaos as UK airports cancel flights and Brits forced to sleep on terminal floors due to snow
BRITS have been left sleeping on airport floors for hours after flights were massively delayed and cancelled following the heavy snow across the UK.
More than four inches of snow fell overnight with temperatures dropping as low as -15.7C in Scotland
Aviation analytics website revealed that 316 flights were cancelled over the weekend due to the snow with another 240 cancelled today according to the .
And families attempting to travel have faced delayed flights and even been forced to sleep on airport floors due to the chaos.
One woman, who was travelling with easyJet at Stansted Airport, tweeted: "Flight cancelled yesterday so had to sleep on the airport floor. Not a rep in sight!"
Another person wrote: "Passengers are literally camping waiting for boarding a/o further communication. 10cm snow in #London in December is nothing extraordinary, c’mon!#StanstedAirport"
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A third said they had to pay hundreds for a hotel when their flight from Rome to Stansted was cancelled at the last minute yesterday.
Stansted Airport was forced to close the runways due to the snow last night but has since reopened, although warned passengers to contact their airlines regarding flights as delays are to be expected.
Nick Millar, operations director at the airport, told BBC Essex that the snowfall was the "worst they had experienced in 12 years" with around 10cm falling in less than four hours.
Other airports were also forced to temporarily close, with images showing passengers asleep on the floors of Gatwick.
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Journalist Poorna Bell wrote on Twitter: "Massively delayed flights @Gatwick_Airport due to snow - almost all flights cancelled. This country’s inability to cope with anything beyond a drizzle is baffling."
Emirates passenger Joanita shared images of people sleeping on the airport floor, tweeting: "How can you not care about the well being of your passengers.
"Literally left us out to freeze in the cold because of cancelled flights. No lounge access."
One mum said: "Flight from Agadir cancelled yesterday and new flight has an estimated 5 hour delay.
"We have a 6 month old who's not well and limited supplies. Surely there's something you can do to get us home quicker. This is appalling! Will we even fly today?!"
Gatwick Airport statement says: "The airport is open and flights are operating however snow and freezing weather is causing some delays and cancelations at the airport today.
"Passengers are advised to check flight status with their airline - and also local travel conditions - before departing for the airport."
On Saturday, Manchester Airport was forced to close both runways due to the heavy snowfall.
While they have since reopened, the airport has warned that the "continued cold weather may still impact your journey".
Here is why planes struggle to land in the UK when it snows - while other countries don't.
It's just just flights affected - motorists were stuck in standstill traffic on the M25 and hundreds of trains across the country have been cancelled.
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Schools are also being forced to shut due to the freezing weather - find out if your kids are affected here.
