London’s Heathrow airport on Thursday announced a 10 per cent reduction in flights due to bad weather conditions brought on by storm Doris. Many airlines either diverted or cancelled flights.

"A strong winter storm over Europe on 23 February 2016 has caused the diversion of Emirates flights EK 147 (Dubai- Amsterdam) to Frankfurt, and the flight EK 17 (Dubai to London Gatwick). We are monitoring the situation and will work to get our passengers to their destinations as soon as possible. Emirates apologises for any inconvenience caused, but the safety of our passengers is paramount," an Emirates spokesperson said

Parts of Britain were being battered by rain and winds of up to 144 kilometres per hour speed as the storm set in, Efe news reported.

Some 39 departures and 38 arrivals had so far been cancelled at Heathrow, one of Europe’s busiest airports

A spokesperson for Heathrow recommended that passengers consult their flight’s status before travelling to the airport.

The Met Office issued weather warnings for areas of northern England, East Anglia, northern Wales and the Midlands, as well as a snow alert for Scotland, where up to 15cm of snow was expected to fall.

Disruptions were likely to affect road and rail travel, as well as ferry services.

Winds of up to 140km/h were registered on the western Irish coast at Galway and 115km/h in western Wales, according to the Met Office.

A total of 12 Aer Lingus flights between the UK and Ireland were cancelled due to the wind. Network Rail warned of delays and cancellations to rail services over safety concerns

source : gulfnews