Manchester airport has published tips for people planning to fly during this week’s Arctic cold snap.
The northwest hub has 20 miles of runways, taxiways and stands which need to be free of ice and snow too ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.
The airport relies on a fleet of more than 30 snow clearing vehicles manned by 180 workers trained to clear snow.
The airfield is anti-iced in advance of freezing conditions and its ‘winter squad’ is deployed to keep falling snow below a level of three millimetres.
The airport said in guidance to consumers: “Snowy weather can cause disruption to travel.
“We go to great lengths to minimise the effects of snow and ice on the airport but the effects of wintry weather can still make aspects of your journey trickier.
“In the event that our airfield has to close we will post details on social media, particularly X (formerly Twitter), when it closes and when it reopens and will provide regular updates in the interim.”
The airport made its statement as National Highways issued a severe weather alert for the northwest, warning of freezing temperatures and snow expected to make roads dangerous.
Temperatures fell below freezing across the UK overnight as cold winds continued to blow in from the north.
Transport Scotland warned motorists to expect “severe impacts” from snow and ice on the roads.
Loganair said it was offering passengers the ability to adjust travel plans without charge but planned to fly all its scheduled services despite the Met Office yellow weather warning forecast running into tomorrow (Wednesday) for Scotland, Northern Ireland and some regions in the north of England.
“We have standby aircraft and crews in place to help recover disrupted services as soon as weather permits,” the regional carrier said.
National Rail warned that there could be disruption across the network throughout the week.
The yellow snow and ice warning covers Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of north Wales and northern England for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.