Manchester has remained virtually untouched by hazardous St Jude Storm with travel from the airport unaffected and only a few flights diverted or delayed.
The storm, which was expected to be the worst in years, has had little impact on flights after yesterday the airport feared the potential cancellation of numerous flights.
Manchester Airport is confident that the majority of arrivals and departures will go on schedule as the storm has only caused problems in the south of England.
A spokesman from Manchester Airport said: “We are not really expecting delays or grounding, a few flights have been diverted, but the majority of flights will not be affected.
“BA flights from Heathrow Airport have been delayed so far and flights to Amsterdam and Charles De Gaulle [Paris] are the only journeys expecting problems.”
St Jude was expected to create hazardous and dangerous conditions across the country but so far the weather in Manchester has had no effect on transport.
Richard Stephenson, Director of Corporate Affairs at AXA UK, said: “[The storm] is predicted by the Met Office to be one of the worst storms in years.
“If the Met Office is proven to be correct, this could pose significant risks to those members of the public due to be impacted by St Jude.”
So far Manchester has not been subject to strong winds but the continual heavy rain has alerted environmental agencies who are taking precautions to stop flooding.
“Environment Agency teams are out working to minimise river flood risk, clearing debris from streams and unblocking culverts,” said an Environment Agency spokesman.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation ready to issue flood warnings if needed. We are supporting local authorities who will respond to any reports of surface water flooding.”
In response to these uncertain the weather conditions Manchester Airport urges travellers to check with the airline before travelling.
Image courtesy of Stacey Shitani via Flickr, with thanks.
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