Due to the competition, and the approach of the largest hotel operator Arora, prices in the Heathrow area are - as a generality - reasonable or even low. There are more beds than customers in normal circumstances. But if the weather turns - or is predicted to turn - then the consequent impact on flight disruption will feed through to very high prices very quickly. On probably only 4 days a year is every hotel at capacity. However the nature of the weather around LHR means that accurate forecasting is only really possible within 24 hours of the event, so price spikes tend to be fairly rapid.