As Storm Eowyn batters England, Wales, and Ireland, transport has been disrupted, including over 1,120 flights. On 24th January, aviation analytics firm, Cirium, revealed the number of flight cancellations on Friday.
By 1 pm GMT, airlines had cancelled 1,124 flights to and from British and Irish airports. These flights comprised 20% of all scheduled flights to and from the affected nations.
The Met Office dubbed the storm “the strongest in 10 years”, reaching record winds up to 114mph.
The storm has also left approximately 283,000 homes and businesses with no power, according to the BBC.
Cancellations in the UK
Cirium data, in their 1 pm update, counted an incredible number of affected flights to and from the UK. The severe weather heavily affected numerous airports across the nation.
In London, Heathrow Airport saw 51 departures cancelled and 62 arrivals cancelled, while Belfast City Airport saw 24 departures cancelled and 21 arrivals cancelled.
In Scotland, Edinburgh Airport saw 85 departures cancelled and 80 arrivals cancelled, Aberdeen Airport had 36 departures cancelled and 32 arrivals cancelled while Glasgow Airport had 44 departures cancelled and 43 arrivals cancelled.
Footage at Edinburgh Airport showcased the harshness of the storm. The video, posted by AviateJack on YouTube, saw a Ryanair plane battling with the wind to land.
London airports, including Gatwick, Stansted and London City also terminated early-morning flights on Saturday. However, Luton Airport managed to maintain its scheduled flights.
Overall, airlines cancelled 430 departing flights on Friday, accounting for 18% of all scheduled flights that day. They also cancelled 424 arriving flights, making up 18% of all returns planned.
Cancellations in Ireland
As described by Cirium, the worst affected airports were Dublin, Cork and Knock.
Knock saw five departures and five arrivals cancelled. Cork also saw several flights cancelled with nine departures and seven arrivals terminated. However, Dublin Airport suffered the highest number of cancellations with 120 cancelled departures and 110 cancelled arrivals.
This meant 142 departing flights had been cancelled, making up 41% of all scheduled departures from Irish airports. Similarly, 128 arrivals to Ireland were terminated, which made up 38% of all scheduled arrivals.
Addressing the impact of the storm, a Dublin Airport spokesperson on X said:
“Flight operations are moving well this evening following the significant easing of winds associated with #StormEowyn”
The storm is expected to end today (27 January), but no perfect prediction can be made while the storm and rain continue hammering down in the north of England. Flights are expected to resume in the following days.
The UK is no stranger to flight delays caused by storms, previously seeing major disruption thanks to Storm Bert in November 2024.
Has Storm Eowyn delayed your flight? Let us know in the comments!
