Strong winds force Cairo flight to divert from Manchester Airport to Gatwick
A Cairo flight diverted to Gatwick as strong winds disrupted Manchester Airport arrivals and delayed departures on Friday 23 October.
An Egyptair flight from Cairo diverted to London Gatwick after strong winds disrupted landings at Manchester Airport on Friday 23 October.
Flight MSR781 circled several times near the airport and attempted to land before diverting.
Other arriving aircraft also circled as the wind prevented landings. At around 2pm, roughly ten aircraft were waiting to depart. More were waiting to land, including some that had already made an attempt.
Departures delayed by more than an hour included VY8747 to Barcelona, FR3242 to Beziers and TS207 to Toronto.
A Met Office yellow wind warning covered Greater Manchester between 10am and 9pm on Friday 23 October. Strong winds were accompanied by spells of heavy rain, with gusts expected to ease gradually during Friday.
Storm Austen, the season’s first named storm, was forecast to bring gusts reaching 80mph in parts of south-west England. Winds of 60–70mph were expected across much of that region.
