exilencfc

It's pretty foggy out here which might be impacting landings into LHR (Aircraft are at about 10K going over my house). Certainly will be having an impact if it's the same all the way in

Marcusm

Mine too; pity it's not a peasouper of old. I fancy the idea of walking around emerging from the fog frightening people (yes it is my 12th birthday tomorrow)....

BotB

It is indeed hard to forecast fog formation and fog dissipation times...it depends on how well the formation reasons are known for that time and location...The fog was quite thick on the M4 corridor coming back West this evening and seems there is no cloud overhead so the formation is likely due to the cold air that is over the London area becoming saturated from the advection over warmer Earth below it...The heat radiates upwards with moisture into the cold air which saturates and forms cloud (fog).

The fog will be around until the Sun comes up or the air mass (with the cold air that saturates quickly) moves on to be replaced with different characteristics.

So the current conditions at Heathrow (EGLL) are:

As of 21:50 this evening local UK time:

winds light and variable in direction (which is why the fog can form)...visibility of 400 meters with the automated visibility sensors measuring 450 meters visibility on runway 27 R and 1200 meters on runway 27 L (so still local and not everywhere). The conditions are producing some freezing fog (so the fog is freezing and producing some rime icing when it comes into contact with some surfaces such as metal)...The fog is thick enough that it obscures the sky completely overhead at ground level. The temperature is minus 2 C and the dew point is minus 3 (so the air is indeed very saturated but not completely so across all areas...still patchy)...there is no other significant weather.

The forecast for Heathrow is:

As of 18:34 this evening when the forecast was updated, and is valid from 18:00 tonight until midnight tomorrow:

current conditions (at 18:30) winds from the North at 4 knots, with 200 meters in freezing fog obscuring vertical visibility as well...and staying that way until...

becoming (between 07:00 tomorrow morning and 10:00 tomorrow morning) better with visibility increasing to 4 Km in mist (saturated haze but not quite fog)...with mostly cloudy skies at 600 feet above ground level....

becoming (between 10:00 and 13:00 tomorrow, the 12th) even better in visibility up to unrestricted visibility with no significant weather and only a few scattered clouds at 4000 feet above ground level.

So not looking to improve from terrible fog conditions until 10:00 tomorrow...but from 07:00 the conditions are meant to improve quickly...

Hope this helps...

Scott Pilgrim

Flow rates in to LHR will be reducing long before visibility gets to 550m. That value doesn't figure in any ATC procedure that may affect flow and you won't be getting a normal flow rate if the visibility is close to it.

Steve Oh

Currently at the Northern Peri - visibility is rather low......

NickB

OUr flight to CPH tonight almost (BA 822) was delayed by two hours. Initial delay due to delayed inbound (fog-related) + de-icing on departure. De-icing accounted for about 1/2 delay. Could be better but reasonable.What is rather more irritating (and certainly seemed to irritate the Captain) was that, after de-icing we had to wait for eons for a tow-truck for pushback. Why on earth pushback is delayed at the very time when flow rates are reduced and there is, therefore, reduced demand for pushback, I cannot fathom. I do not want to knock them hard. I know that, in any unusual operation, there often are complications and delays that are difficult to apprehend from outside. However, this is precisely why some explanation of the reason for the pushback backlog would help passengers to understand something that seems difficult to understand from outside.

sbams

BA104 from Dubai (and others) diverted to AMS, and had a very lengthy ground delay (about 3 hours) due to the low visibility (freezing fog).

cornishsimon

I heard a sniff that several lCY arrivals diverted to SEN earlier !

Stobbard air seem to be making a quid or two


cs

ACARS

True. I was thinking more from an LVP cat3 safeguarding point of view. But duly noted.

For those departing tomorrow expect delays due to de-icing (assuming your aircraft arrived last night). As long as the runway visual range stays above 150 meters then you will (eventually) depart.

Why no pushback team after de-icing? Left hand needs to meet right hand first, then they might start working together. The other problem is fog causes significant start up delays. LHR now takes part in something called A-CDM. basically it reduces taxi times and queues by issuing aircraft with TSATs or target start up times. These must be complied with, or the airline needs to 'apply' for a new one. The airline (or it's agent) has to give ATC an estimated off blocks time. This is the time the agent believes the aircraft's doors will be shut, tugs in place and ready to go. ATC then generates a TSAT which the dispatcher/trm passes to the crew. The crew must call fully ready no later than the TSAT. ATC then co-ordinates push backs or remote de-icing or to taxi straight o the active.
If a crew misses the TSAT and has to wait 10 mins or so for the new one to come around, the tug team still needs to be attached. Meanwhile the de-ice team are spraying your aircraft and the captain assumes he tug team are pushing the previous aircraft and will then be around to you just as de/anti-icing finishes. Neither de-ice team nor captain will aware of the tug team being held up waiting or a new TSAT on the previous aircraft. Thus everything start falling out of sequence. The effect multiplies as time goes on.

So assuming you are de/anti-iced in the morning, have a tug and make your TSAT. You can ( if the RVRs are above 125 or 150 meters according to size of aircraft) push back and slowly make your way to the active runway. If you have to remote de-ice, then you queue, enter, get sprayed, taxi to active. Either usually incurs a delay. De-ice teams usually only spray once hold doors are all shut as losing teams don't like being overhead in fluids.

It's all a great deal of fun for everyone! and that is before the issue of hold over times get discussed (how long the anti-icing properties last)

henners

Indeed - I was on the ARN flight that diverted to SEN; there was a BA E70 and three Cityjet aircraft already there when we arrived.

I was quite impressed with my first visit to SEN: although there was a bit of a delay getting us off the plane, passport control was quick, bags were as fast as a LCY, and a load of smiling airport folks were around directing people out to the bus to LCY and/or the train to London.

cornishsimon

Were channel5 knocking around by chance ?

Just in case, i do hope that you smiled and waved your Flyertalk luggage tags around henners


cs

lorcancoyle

Something similar for me, but LHR-AMS-LGW on Saturday and Jersey on Sunday. Though I was lucky to get back to LHR tonight from IST (on TK as last BA flight too early to make), but with a 2.5 hr delay landing at 00.30 or so. Same layout as CE flight over, so I haven't gone to the dark side as a result!

(and OT, while TK lounge is very nice also very crowded - kind of disappointing, but BA should learn from them on the food front)

e195

Quiet a few cancellelations in the morning today

Abz0620

BA3291 cancelled from ABZ to LCY this morning. BA1301 was boarding to LHR but no seats on any flights to LON until mid-day.

Gshumway

Any forecasts yet for the next few days? I am interested in 285 to SFO on Thursday as that will be my outbound plane for 284. At least it will not be snow like the last 2 times I tried to fly around x-mas.