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Ports and airports affected by extreme weather

All the UK’s major airports are open, although many are still reporting disruptions due to extreme weather conditions, while the country’s busiest two container ports continue to be affected.

The port of Felixstowe closed its doors yesterday.

At 11am a port spokesman said there were still disruptions to landside and shipping operations and Operation Stack, a police operation where lorries waiting to enter the port queue on the A14, was still in place.

He said the port would be able to take some export containers but was not currently loading import containers. It was impossible to predict when the port would become fully operational.

DP World Southampton was also affected by the weather.

A spokeswoman said: “Terminal operations continue to be affected by the severe weather conditions with both shipside and landside operations affected. We continue to grit the terminal and monitor the situation.”

The Port of Dover was closed for an hour last night, but it is currently open and operating as normal.

Meanwhile, Gatwick Airport re-opened this morning, but said it was experiencing knock-on delays and cancellations following yesterday’s closure of the airport

Gatwick said: “We are working hard to keep the runways clear. However, the threat of more snow and ice remains.”

Airports operator BAA said the runways of all of its airports were operating – including Stansted, which closed for periods yesterday, but there were some disruptions and cancellations.

East Midlands Airport said some flights have been affected due to the weather at destination airports, while Manchester Airport said flights were arriving and departing as normal, adding: “No further snow has fallen since that of the early hours of Tuesday morning and the majority of flights cancelled due to adverse weather on Monday have been cleared.” -IFW

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