Close-up of raindrops streaking down a window with a blurred, gray outdoor scene behind it

Rain on a window during a storm. File photo. Credit: Gabriele Stravinskaite / Unsplash

A Storm Is Snarling UK Flights, With Planes Diverted as Far Away as Norway

A powerful storm is causing delays and cancellations across the UK for a second day, with Scotland hit hardest. Planes are circling before landing, and on Saturday, a flight that couldn't land in Edinburgh flew to Norway instead. Here's what to expect if you're flying.

by Zach Benitez

Oct 25, 2026

5 min read

Update, October 25, 5:30 p.m. ET: Storm Boelo has now canceled more than 110 departures across Edinburgh, Dublin and Manchester on Sunday alone, according to FlightAware data reviewed by Contrail. Dublin has been hit hardest, with 47 departures canceled, 29 of them Aer Lingus Regional turboprops, the small propeller planes most affected by strong wind. Edinburgh has canceled 34 departures today and about 44 since Saturday, with flights still leaving about 45 minutes late on average. Manchester has canceled 32 departures and is now the most delayed airport in the UK, with departures averaging more than an hour late. Arrivals have been hit too, so the full totals are higher. If you’re flying from the UK or Ireland tonight, check your airline’s app before heading to the airport.

A powerful storm is causing flight delays across the UK for a second day, and Edinburgh Airport is one of the hardest hit as Storm Boelo's winds batter Scotland. Planes are circling before landing, departures are running hours late, and on Saturday, one flight that couldn't land in Edinburgh ended up in Norway. Weather warnings for Scotland last until 9 p.m. Sunday, so if you're flying in or out today, expect a long day.

The Latest

On Sunday afternoon, a Qatar Airways Dreamliner from Doha flew a long holding pattern south of Edinburgh before finally landing about two hours late, according to FlightAware data reviewed by Contrail. It was one of many delayed flights: KLM, Lufthansa, easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2 flights all ran 30 minutes or more behind schedule over the course of the day, and one Ryanair departure left more than five hours late.

It wasn’t the only long detour. Late Saturday, a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Bristol, normally about an hour, abandoned its approach in strong gusts and flew roughly 1,000 miles to Alicante, Spain, landing at 2:15 a.m., according to AirLive.

About 100 flights had been canceled across the UK by midday Sunday, according to the news site Brit Brief, including 15 at Edinburgh, most of them British Airways flights to London Heathrow. Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast and Heathrow were all hit too. Manchester was also seeing arrival delays of about an hour on Sunday afternoon.

Storm Boelo · Edinburgh

Flying in Scotland Today

Warnings until

9 p.m. Sunday

Edinburgh cancellations

15 by midday, mostly BA to Heathrow

Expect

Holds, long delays, late departures

If canceled

Refund or rebooking, plus meals and a hotel

Saturday

16 cancellations, 142 delays. A Faro flight diverts to Oslo.

Sunday

Delays continue. Check your airline's app before leaving.

Monday

More wind possible, mostly in the northwest.

Contrail

The Plane That Flew to Norway

Saturday was rougher. A Ryanair flight from Faro, Portugal, circled near Edinburgh for about half an hour, tried one approach, then climbed away and flew about 600 miles to Oslo, according to flight-tracking data reported by AeroCorner. Flights from Malta and Istanbul were sent to Manchester instead, and Edinburgh ended the day with 16 cancellations and 142 delays.

Diverting that far sounds extreme, but it's a normal safety call. When crosswinds at an airport are too strong to land safely, pilots hold for a while hoping conditions improve, then head to an alternate airport they've planned for in advance. When storms cover a whole region, the nearest good option can be in another country.

Ryanair Boeing 737 with a blue and yellow livery taxiing on a runway lined with grass and trees — A Ryanair Boeing 737. File photo. Credit: Gabor Koszegi / Unsplash

Why Wind Causes So Much Trouble

Planes can handle strong winds, but not strong winds blowing across the runway. Every airliner has a limit on how much crosswind it can land in, and gusts make it worse, because a sudden shift right before touchdown is the hardest thing for a pilot to correct. When gusts get too strong, airports space out landings, flights hold in the air, and pilots abort approaches that don't feel right.

Those delays also stack up through the day. A plane that arrives two hours late leaves two hours late, and on a long enough day, crews can run out of legal working hours, which is when delays turn into cancellations.

If You're Flying Today

Check your flight status before you leave, in your airline's app rather than on the airport's departure board.
Expect delays even if you're not canceled. Holds and spaced-out landings will keep the schedule behind all day.
If your flight is canceled, UK rules entitle you to a refund or rebooking, plus meals and a hotel if you're stuck overnight. Because a storm counts as an extraordinary circumstance, you usually won't get cash compensation on top of that.
Monday may not be clear either. The Met Office says another round of wet and windy weather could hit, mostly in the northwest.

Written by

Zach Benitez

Zach Benitez is the editor in chief of Contrail. He has reviewed airlines in more than 50 countries and flies hundreds of thousands of miles a year to show readers what flying is really like. He's based in New York and studies at NYU.