London, UK: Due to the significant snowfall, Manchester Airport has resumed its service after temporarily closing both of its runways. The airport has told before that, cleaning the airfield will enable operations to restart “at the earliest opportunity.”

Images from the airport depict passengers stranded inside aircraft on the runway. In a tweet, the airport added that health and safety will “always be our top priority” and advised passengers to contact their airline for the most up-to-date flight information.

ℹ️ We are pleased to report that operations have resumed. pic.twitter.com/B5Qc96fnOq

— Manchester Airport (@manairport) January 19, 2023

Overnight, temperatures dropped as low as -10C (14F) in certain regions of the UK. Following a drop in temperatures, several severe weather warnings for snow and ice have been in effect all through the UK for the past few days.

The flight tracking service FlightRadar24 stated that, a Virgin Atlantic flight from Atlanta was diverted from Manchester to London as a result of the runway closures. At Manchester Airport, one passenger claimed they had already experienced two hours of delays and were spending an additional hour “going nowhere” on a plane.

Drumnadrochit near Inverness in the Highlands hit -10.4C (13.28F) in the early hours of 19th January making it the coldest recorded temperature of the year so far. Manchester Airport had to close both of its runways when Topcliffe, in north Yorkshire, saw a low of -7.4C (18.68F), the lowest temperature ever recorded in England.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a level three cold weather advisory until 9 AM on 20th January 2023, warning of conditions that “could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services.”