Flight Delayed by Fog? When You Can Still Claim Compensation in the UK

The clocks have gone back, the mornings are darker, and fog season has started at UK airports. From late October through to the new year, thick fog can roll in overnight and sit over runways at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and the Scottish airports well into the morning.

When it does, the departure boards fill up with delays and cancellations, and the reason given is almost always the same: weather. Many passengers take that as the end of the matter. It often isn't.

Why fog causes so many delays

Aircraft can land and take off in fog, but only under low visibility procedures. Planes have to be spaced further apart on approach and on the ground, so the airport can handle far fewer flights an hour than normal. At a busy airport like Heathrow, which runs close to full capacity all day, even a short drop in the arrival rate means flights are held, delayed or cancelled to fit the reduced slots.

Because aircraft fly several trips a day, a foggy morning in London can also delay flights all over the network for the rest of the day.

When fog is a valid excuse

Under UK261 and EU261, an airline doesn't have to pay compensation if the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances that couldn't have been avoided even if it had taken all reasonable measures. Genuinely severe weather, and the air traffic control restrictions it triggers, can fall into that category.

But the airline has to show more than just "it was foggy". It needs to prove that:

• The fog actually affected your flight, at the time it was due to operate
• There was a direct link between the fog and your specific delay or cancellation
• It took all reasonable measures to keep the delay as short as possible

When you can still claim

These situations are often worth challenging:

• The fog had already lifted. If your flight was in the afternoon or evening and the fog cleared that morning, delays from crew running out of hours, aircraft in the wrong place or a backlog the airline didn't recover from can be much harder to blame on the weather.
• The delay was the next day. A knock-on delay a day after the fog is rarely a direct result of it.
• Other flights went. If other airlines flew the same route on time, or your airline's next flight to the same place left normally, ask why yours didn't.
• The reason changed. A delay that started as fog and turned into a technical fault or missing crew is no longer about the weather. See our guide to technical fault delays.
• Your flight was cancelled to save money. If the airline cancelled your flight while flights either side of it went ahead, it should be able to explain why yours was the one that couldn't operate.

Our explainers on extraordinary circumstances and winter weather delays go into more detail.

How much could you be owed?

If the fog excuse doesn't stand up and you arrived 3 or more hours late, or your flight was cancelled at short notice, compensation under UK261 is:

• £220 per passenger for flights under 1,500km, such as London to Paris, Amsterdam or Dublin
• £350 per passenger for flights between 1,500km and 3,500km, such as Manchester to Malaga or Tenerife
• £520 per passenger for flights over 3,500km, such as London to New York or Dubai (£260 if the delay was between 3 and 4 hours)

These amounts are per person, so a family of four on a cancelled flight to the Canaries could be owed £1,400. Not sure which band your flight falls into? Our guide on how much compensation you can get explains it.

What you're owed even if the fog was genuine

Extraordinary circumstances only cancel out the compensation. The airline still has to look after you. If your flight is delayed by:

• 2 hours or more on a flight under 1,500km
• 3 hours or more on a flight between 1,500km and 3,500km
• 4 hours or more on a longer flight

you're entitled to food and drink, a way to make contact (such as phone calls or emails), and a hotel with transport to it if you're stuck overnight. If the airline doesn't provide these, keep your receipts and claim back reasonable costs afterwards.

If your flight is cancelled, you can choose between a full refund or a new flight at the earliest opportunity, even on another airline if that's the only way to get you there in reasonable time. Our guide to refunds versus compensation explains how the two work together.

What to save on the day

• Screenshots of the delay reason in the airline's app and on the departure boards, and every time it changes
• Emails and texts from the airline
• The time you actually arrived (when the aircraft doors opened)
• Receipts for food, drinks, hotels and taxis
• A note of whether other flights on the same route were leaving

How long do you have to claim?

In England and Wales you have up to 6 years to claim (5 years in Scotland), so a fog delay from a previous winter could still be worth checking. See our guide to the 6 year time limit.

Check your flight

If your flight was delayed or cancelled and the airline blamed fog, check it with Klaimly. We look at the flight's actual history, what happened to the aircraft before it and whether the weather really explains the delay. We charge a flat 5% fee, only if we win, with nothing to pay upfront. The airline pays your compensation directly to you.