Flights have been redirected away from a major UK airport following a technical fault.
Arrivals at Birmingham Airport were suspended after a power failure affected a radar facility operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
As a result, only outbound flights were permitted to fly from the airport.
NATS apologised for the disruption, explaining that severe weather in the area caused the outage.
The organisation said its engineers were working alongside National Grid to restore full service as quickly as possible.
Inbound flights have been diverted to alternative airports, including East Midlands Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
In total, nine flights have been cancelled or rerouted, while at least 12 others are experiencing delays, with some exceeding four hours.
The disruption follows Storm Goretti, which earlier this week brought wind gusts approaching 100mph and prompted the Met Office to issue a rare red weather warning for dangerously strong winds.
Multiple flights have been diverted to East Midlands Airport and Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport
A spokesperson said: ‘Due to a technical issue with NATS’ radar that serves Birmingham Airport, only departing flights are currently operating, with some delays.
A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: ‘Due to a technical issue with NATS’ radar that serves Birmingham Airport, only departing flights are currently operating, with some delays.
‘All arriving flights are currently suspended. We apologise for the delay to customers, and we are working closely with NATS to rectify the issue.’
Flights from the airport are understood to be going ahead this morning.
Multiple flights had been diverted to East Midlands Airport and Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport.
Power–related failures have previously caused widespread disruption at UK airports.
In March last year, a power outage at Heathrow Airport led to the cancellation of around 1,300 flights and affected more than 270,000 passengers.
An investigation later concluded that the incident was triggered by a catastrophic equipment failure at a nearby electrical substation.
NATS also faced criticism last year after air traffic control issues forced the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights departing from UK airports, drawing frustration from airlines and travellers alike.
