Persistant FOG, in the Glasgow area, is forecast for the early hours of monday, and might affect 'the M8 corridor'...a busy thoroughfare at the best of times.

Playing golf today on Anglesey. 8 deg C. Sun shining, beautiful day. And I won! Can't get much better than that.

morddwyd - It did! (and I'm hoping so)

WTM

john bunyan

It's a highly contentious issue.

What is pretty obvious is that Heathrow operates at around 98% of its maximum capacity for most of the time - on average there are 1300 flights scheduled to arrive or depart every day. What's badly needed is another runway, but that doesn't look likely to happen, given the vehemence of the opposition to the idea.

The problem is a huge one,and its solution is very important as far as our economy is concerned - we need to remain an internationally important hub for business travellers, tourists, and cargo.

Around 60% of all arriving flights are held in the air prior to landing, and this means cost. The Air Traffic Control Service has produced figures which show that aircraft are circling the airport for a cumulative 55 hours a day. This equates to 190 tonnes of fuel being burned, and the discharge of 600 tonnes of co2 into the skies above London. The wasted fuel cost alone is around £119,000 every day. At the daily late-morning peak time people in London and the surrounding countryside have between 30 and forty big jets circling over their heads, stacked, waiting for clearance to land. It's a miracle of air-traffic control, and the wonder is that there aren't more near-miss events or accidents.

An answer is the one you mentioned - a four-runway airport in the Thames Estuary - but don't hold your breath.