Air travel across the United Kingdom faced major disruption on Saturday, June 27, 2026, after severe thunderstorms sweeping across southern England triggered extensive delays and cancellations at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports. According to aviation tracking data, more than 600 flights arriving at or departing from the two major travel hubs were delayed, while dozens of services were cancelled. By Saturday afternoon, flight tracking service FlightAware reported at least 367 flights delayed at Heathrow and 352 at Gatwick, with some passengers facing wait times of up to six hours. The disruption followed an intense heatwave that left eastern and southeastern England under an amber extreme heat warning. As the hot, humid weather gave way to unstable atmospheric conditions, severe storms developed, leading the UK’s air traffic control provider, NATS, to impose temporary restrictions to ensure operational safety. These restrictions reduced the amount of safe airspace available for aircraft, forcing controllers to space out flights and limit the number of arrivals and departures per hour. The most significant disruption affected air corridors connecting southeast England with northwestern Europe, where the storm activity was concentrated. Airlines including British Airways and EasyJet confirmed they had to adjust schedules, with some carriers opting for pre-emptive cancellations to minimize the impact of the congestion. Passengers were advised to check their flight status directly with airlines, as delays were expected to persist throughout the day while crews and aircraft worked to return to normal operating patterns.