Newcastle Airport experienced disruption to flights on Sunday after continuous snowfall across the North East.
A number of flights were delayed at the airport due to the treacherous conditions brought about by the weather. An amber snow warning remains in place from the Met Office throughout Sunday warning of heavy snowfall in areas of the North East. A yellow weather warning for snow and ice was put in place from midday on Saturday, January 4 and still remains in place until midnight on Sunday, January 5, covering the majority of the region with the exception of the coast.
The Met Office also issued a new yellow weather warning on Sunday, which runs from midnight on Sunday, January 5, to midday on Monday, January 6. And it covers County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.
On Sunday morning, as much of the region woke up to snow covered streets, Newcastle Airport updated passengers on their X account. Airport snow teams found it difficult to clear the runways as the heavy and continuous snowfall was “proving a challenge”.
At around 8am, the airport wrote: “The airport continues to experience heavy and continuous snowfall and teams are working across the site to keep passengers and colleagues safe. We continue to see some disruption to the flight schedule and recommend passengers visit our website or app for the latest flight information, or contact their airline.”
But by 11am, the snowy conditions began to lift, and the airport thanked all passengers for their patience. The airport added: “The snowy conditions are beginning to lift at the airport. Thank you to our passengers for your patience and to the teams on the ground who have worked tirelessly, from the early hours of the morning, to keep the airport open and to attempt to clear the falling snow. The runway is now fully cleared and we are working with our airline partners to return our flight schedule back to normal as quickly as possible.”
By midday, the runway reopened and flights resumed. As well as weather warnings, amber cold health alerts have been issued for all regions of England including the North East between now and January 8, warning of “significant impacts” across health and social care services due to the winter weather.
Sources – Newcastle City Council/Newcastle Council of Elders