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Contingency plans in place at Gatwick as more rain is forecast
Gatwick Airport has a team of emergency volunteers lined up to help out this weekend as more bad weather is expected to hit the UK.
At a conference call yesterday, airlines, handling agents and terminal staff were briefed on the contingency plans put in place to cope with more wind and rain.
The airport’s North Terminal experienced major problems on Christmas Eve when flooding caused power cuts. As a result, thousands of passengers suffered delays and cancellations.
But today a spokesman for the airport said mountains of sandbags and a water pump system have now been put in place to protect the power sub stations from flooding.
Strong winds and around 5-10mm rain are forecast this afternoon and again tomorrow, and up to 20mm of rain is expected to fall on Sunday.
On Christmas Eve, around 70mm of rain fell in under 24 hours.
"The main problem last time was that the nearby River Mole burst its banks, but the river is currently running at a low level," said a Gatwick spokesman.
The airport is holding another conference call this afternoon to update staff and airlines.
At present flights are operating as normal.
The Environment Agency has issued 21 severe flood warnings, which means ‘danger to life’ in south-west England, Gloucestershire and Wales.
Many of the warnings are along the coastlines of Devon and Cornwall.
Waves more than 30ft high are forecast to hit Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly today.
The Met Office has warned of flooding in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Ferry services are being disrupted. See separate story.
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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