Christmas travel chaos as thick fog prompts delays and cancellations at UK’s busiest airports

Airline passengers hoping to jet off ahead of the New Year were hit by severe delays, as thick fog caused chaos at the UK’s busiest airports.

Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester, the UK’s three busiest airports, were forced to cancel a number of flights on Friday, with almost all scheduled departures severely delayed due to the troubling weather.

Almost every flight from Manchester airport was delayed throughout the day, with the majority being held back by over two hours.

Several to destinations such as Guernsey, Dublin, Munich and Hurghada were also delayed by over four hours.

A similar story was seen at both Gatwick and Heathrow, with passengers describing chaotic scenes as they waited to see if they would be taking off at all.

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