Fog clears, but UK airports remain affected

Dozens of flights were expected to be disrupted at Heathrow and Gatwick on Monday despite the lifting of a thick belt of fog that caused travel chaos for thousands of passengers over the weekend.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at airports across the country on Saturday and Sunday as fog descended just in time for the Christmas getaway.

Heathrow Airport said 30 departures would be grounded on Monday as a knock-on affect of the weekend disruption. At Gatwick a handful of flights were affected. The bulk of the affected journeys are British Airways short-haul flights.

Officials at Heathrow were unable to say how many arrivals would be disrupted.

Over the weekend, 90 departures and 112 arrivals were cancelled.

Up to a thousand stranded passengers were forced to spend the night at Heathrow on Sunday waiting for alternative flights, while others slept in nearby hotels.

Last year when more than 350 flights at Heathrow were cancelled in the run-up to Christmas due to fog.

Airports in Scotland were returning to normal after 25 planes were grounded during the weekend, with just 5 flights in total due to be cancelled on Monday at Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Airport authorities are encouraging travellers to check the BAA or airline Web sites before embarking on their journeys.

The fog has also caused problems on the road, with a major pile up on the M5 near Bristol on Sunday involving 16 vehicles including a coach.

The motorway was closed in both directions as fire crews cut a passenger free from the wreckage of a car. The woman was said to have suffered spinal injuries.

Elsewhere, motorway traffic was slow in northern England, the Midlands and Scotland.

Weather forecasters offered some hope on Monday, saying the fog should be replaced by warmer and wetter weather.

"Bands of rain are likely to push south east across the UK, bringing places in the south and east a damp and grey rather than white Christmas Day," the Met Office said on its Web site.

"Brighter skies and some showers will follow from the north."