Winds disrupt festive travel as ferries and flights are cancelled

Thousands of people in the UK are facing a Christmas travel nightmare as strong winds led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and ferries.

- Mark Brown

A Met Office yellow weather warning was in place until 9pm yesterday from John o'Groats to Land's End, with gusts of up to 60mph widespread and some as strong as 70mph on hills and around exposed coasts.

Gusts of 82mph, the strongest of the weekend, were recorded at Kirkwall on Orkney and at South Uist in the Outer Hebrides.

More than 100 flights were cancelled at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, with passengers advised to check the situation before they travel.

An airport spokesperson said the high winds predicted for yesterday meant the flow rate had to be reduced. This inevitably led to cancellations. "We are really aware this is right before Christmas. This is purely for safety that we have had to do this."

Most of the cancellations were British Airways flights. It said it was offering free flight changes to passengers on short-haul services who did not want to travel at the weekend.