Gatwick Airport has a team of emergency volunteers lined up to help out this weekend as more bad weather is expected to hit the UK.

At a conference call yesterday, airlines, handling agents and terminal staff were briefed on the contingency plans put in place to cope with more wind and rain.

The airport’s North Terminal experienced major problems on Christmas Eve when flooding caused power cuts. As a result, thousands of passengers suffered delays and cancellations.

But today a spokesman for the airport said mountains of sandbags and a water pump system have now been put in place to protect the power sub stations from flooding.

Strong winds and around 5-10mm rain are forecast this afternoon and again tomorrow, and up to 20mm of rain is expected to fall on Sunday.

On Christmas Eve, around 70mm of rain fell in under 24 hours.

“The main problem last time was that the nearby River Mole burst its banks, but the river is currently running at a low level,” said a Gatwick spokesman.

The airport is holding another conference call this afternoon to update staff and airlines.

At present flights are operating as normal.

No major disruption has been reported at other UK airports, but Ryanair said high winds were causing a few problems to its Ireland flights.

The Environment Agency has issued 21 severe flood warnings, which means ‘danger to life’ in south-west England, Gloucestershire and Wales.

Many of the warnings are along the coastlines of Devon and Cornwall.

Waves more than 30ft high are forecast to hit Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly today.

The Met Office has warned of flooding in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Ferry services are being disrupted. See separate story.
Friday, January 3, 2014