Hundreds of flights have been canceled in Europe due to life-threatening, hurricane-strength storm Eunice, which hit some of the biggest airports in Europe on February 18, 2022.
Storm Eunice with severe winds has already hit the United Kingdom and Ireland on early February 18, 2022. The Met Office, the UK’s national weather service, issued a Red Warning and asked locals to avoid leaving their homes if unnecessary as the storm is expected to “bring damaging and disruptive winds for most of the UK.” The authority also warned that strong swings may potentially cause severe damages to buildings, roofs and power lines as gusts could reach a speed of more than 90 miles per hour.
#StormEunice is going to bring damaging and disruptive winds for most of the UK today.
See the latest Red Warnings for wind below and be aware of the wider Amber Warning area.
Exposed coastal areas could get gusts in excess of 90mph
Latest https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs pic.twitter.com/uQAeGfB3RK
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 18, 2022
The storm has already disrupted the operations of various European airlines. A number of British air carriers, such as British Airways and easyJet, have been forced to cancel or divert their flights due to safety hazards. The UK flag carrier, British Airways, was forced to cut at least 80 flights to and from London airports, including 44 operations to and from Heathrow (LHR) and 36 flights at London City (LCY).
We’re expecting extreme weather conditions as a result of Storm Eunice at airports across the UK. Find out more here: https://t.co/PZFhM4CSJF
— British Airways (@British_Airways) February 18, 2022
Meanwhile, British low-cost carrier easyJet warned of significant disruption to its services from both Gatwick (LGW) and Bristol (BRS).
“Due to strong winds impacting parts of the UK today, like other airlines we are experiencing some disruption to our flying program and have been required to cancel a small number of flights to and from the UK,” a spokesperson of easyJet told The Sun.
The storm is moving towards other European countries. Dutch flagship airline KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said it had canceled almost 170 flights that were scheduled to be operated on Friday.
“Due to stormy weather in Amsterdam on Thursday 17 February and Friday 18 February 2022, our flights to, from, or via Amsterdam Airport Schiphol may be disrupted,” the carrier said.
European network manager Eurocontrol predicted “major disruption” for UK airports including London Luton, London Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester with the storm then expected to affect operations at Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Brussels.
Because of the potential for disruptions, some airports, including Amsterdam, are not accepting diversions.
