Early on Tuesday (7 January), Liverpool’s John Lennon airport confirmed its runway was closed to allow for snow clearing, before reopening at around 10.30am. Aberdeen airport was another forced to close its runway, which it said required de-icing.
Runway operations at Bristol airport, meanwhile, had resumed by 8am following a closure during the early hours. This follows a closure late last week during the first snow flurries.
Manchester airport also reopened its runway during the early hours of Tuesday morning, but warned travellers to brace for disruption. “Our runways are now open but as a result of the earlier closure some departures and arrivals may still experience delays," said MAN.
Passengers are advised to check the status of their flights before travelling to the airport and to allow extra time for their journeys on Tuesday.
The Met Office put in place a three-day yellow warning for snow late last week covering the weekend, which have been extended several times – now into Wednesday 8 January – with further cold weather forecast for the coming days.
There are also more than 150 flood warnings in effect across the country owing either to heavy rain or melting snowfall; major incidents have been declared in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire as a result.
The wintery weather hasn’t dampened agents spirits though despite a mixed first full weekend of peaks, with some agents hailing it their best ever while others found the going a little tougher.
Perfect Getaways boss Dave Palmer said the agency, which has 10 stores across the North West and Isle of Man, notched up a record weekend’s trading. “We’ve had an amazing start to January,” he said. “Friday and Saturday were our best-ever sales days in our history.”
Seaside Travel owner Nicola Evans Park told TTG it was the agency’s best-ever start to peaks. "I know some people have said differently, but it’s not been the case with us,” she added.
However, Denise Simpson, director of Barnsley-based agency Xpert Travel, said the adverse weather had affected trading. “Footfall was noticeably quieter," she said. :We’ve had heavy snowfall in South Yorkshire, and that’s meant people have been put off coming into the branch."
