Many airports have had problems in the last couple of weeks due to bad weather. But it was arguably Bristol Airport which was one of the worst affected of them all.
In fact after the horrendous week of snow and ice that began on the 2nd February, the powers that be at Bristol Airport actually had to ask for help. It seems they were on the verge of running out of grit to keep their runways open and functioning. Luckily Somerset County Council was able to step in and help out in this particular case.
But before then there was certainly a problem or two due to the inclement weather. Monday 9th February saw Bristol Airport close overnight because of another bout of heavy snow. This came a week after the first round of snow hit the UK with a vengeance.
The end of the week before was memorable for all the wrong reasons at Bristol too. As a number of Welsh rugby fans will testify, their flights to Scotland didn’t go as planned on Friday 6th February. EasyJet’s services were particularly badly affected as the bad weather set in once more, and plenty of fans ended up missing out on what would have been an important match for them to see. You can read more about this here.
Of course Bristol Airport wasn’t the only airport affected by the bad weather. It was more heavily affected as the second week of February got underway though. This was because the bad wintry weather had moved north, leaving the South relatively unscathed as far as snow was concerned.
What’s more, it wasn’t just the airport grounds that suffered from the low temperatures, ice, snow and freezing conditions. The roads leading into the airport from surrounding areas were also dreadful, and many people were being advised not to travel at all if they could possibly help it.
The news from Bristol Airport was to keep an eye on whether your flight was still scheduled to depart or not. EasyJet certainly wasn’t taking any chances; last Friday night it took the decision not to let any planes take off from Bristol.
So when can we expect the weather to get better? Well as far as Bristol is concerned, things should start improving now. The snow has gone, and no doubt airport staff members are hoping that things stay that way. After more than a week of disruption due to the bad weather, the airlines and airport itself will be doing all they can to get back to normal.
Flooding could be a problem in some areas at present, but it is hoped that Bristol Airport will escape this. At least thanks to Somerset County Council they have some grit on hand in case the bad weather does return. We were warned of a bad winter, but no one was expecting it to close the airports and dump so much snow on us.
Least of all, Bristol Airport and all the other airports in the UK!