Storm Austen ends, leaving flight cancellations and diversions across Europe

Storm Austen disrupted flights across northern France and the Channel Islands on 23 October 2026, with 41 cancelled movements shown on Jersey’s final Friday airport boards. Some services resumed on Saturday, but cancellations and diversions affected several European airports. Brest’s flight board shows eleven cancelled movements, Caen lists three cancellations and one delay, and Transavia morning departures have been cancelled at Nantes. Jersey’s final Friday flight boards now list 41 cancelled movements, comprising 22 departures and 19 arrivals, with every service still displayed marked cancelled. Guernsey Airport reopened on Saturday, while Jersey’s official boards show aircraft landing again and departures being processed. Flights heading to Paris Charles de Gaulle have also been diverted to Orly, Brussels, Lyon and Basel, with another returning to Geneva, according to Reuters and Flightradar24 flight histories. KLM has also cancelled 20 flights in the Netherlands on Friday and expects 22 more cancellations on Saturday, although no general cancellation tally has been established at Belgian airports. These time-specific figures are not a Europe-wide total and do not establish the cause of every cancellation. They reflect Friday’s disruption, not a live status report for Saturday.

Storm Austen’s severe-weather episode is over across affected parts of France and Britain, but the low was still over the North Sea on Saturday morning. The Met Office confirmed that its amber wind warning for Austen expired on Friday as the system moved into the Low Countries. Improving weather does not establish that every air service has resumed; passengers should confirm flights and rebooking arrangements with their airline or airport. KLM’s forecast of 22 further Saturday cancellations remains provisional without a newly confirmed final tally. The Dutch weather agency KNMI’s Saturday morning coastal forecast placed the Austen low over the German Bight, moving north. Its updated warnings attribute renewed Dutch coastal gusts from Saturday evening to a separate system, Boelo. Separate Storm Boelo is behind the new British weather warnings for the weekend.

The storm reached western France on Thursday 22 October and was expected to spread across Normandy, the Paris region and Hauts-de-France on Friday. In its 22 October forecast, Météo-France warned of gusts of 100–110 km/h inland in Brittany, locally 120 km/h, and up to 130–140 km/h along the most exposed coastline. Observed winds have exceeded those early forecast ranges: Météo Bretagne recorded a gust of 161 km/h at Pointe du Raz at 5.36am on Friday, and 158 km/h at Ouessant-Stiff. Heavy rain was also expected in Brittany and Normandy. Orange wind alerts applied to fifteen French departments on Friday, up from three on Thursday, including Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Yvelines and Val-d’Oise. Inland gusts of 80–100 km/h were forecast across parts of the Paris region and northern France.

Conditions were still severe in northern France late in the afternoon. La Chaîne Météo reported gusts of 120km/h at Fécamp and 110km/h at Dieppe around 5.30pm, even as conditions gradually improved farther west. The storm centre was moving towards Belgium, with gusts continuing across northern France.

French airport cancellations and widespread Channel Islands disruption

The official Brest Bretagne flight board for 23 October, checked at 10.24am, lists eleven cancelled movements, comprising five arrivals and six departures. Air France, Transavia and Finistair services involving Paris CDG, Marseille, Porto, Toulon and Ouessant are affected. Individual flight numbers are retained in the detailed card below.

At Caen Carpiquet, the board updated at 10.32am shows three cancelled Volotea movements: arrivals V72580 from Marseille and V72010 from Montpellier, and departure V72581 to Marseille. Departure V72011 to Montpellier is delayed. Services displayed for Nice, Toulouse and Lyon are marked on time.

At Nantes Atlantique, La Chaîne Météo reported at 7.35am that all morning Transavia departures had been cancelled. Its report did not specify the number of flights.

The Channel Islands had already experienced substantial disruption on Thursday. At Guernsey, the remaining Thursday afternoon arrivals were cancelled after a last scheduled departure at 2.40pm for London Gatwick, according to Guernsey Ports arrangements reported by The Quarry. Thursday’s remaining Alderney flights were cancelled too. On Friday, Guernsey Airport pushed back its expected restart: passengers could enter the terminal from 2pm, but no flights were expected before 4pm local time. The board updated at 1.19pm local time shows British Airways BA1344 and BA1345 between Guernsey and London Heathrow, Aurigny’s GR681 from Paris CDG and several services involving London Gatwick, Southampton and Bristol as cancelled. The official board updated at 7.13pm local time lists Aurigny GR707 from Birmingham and GR607 from London Gatwick with estimated arrivals around 7.45pm and 7.35pm respectively. However, GR215 from Alderney, GR609 and GR611 from Gatwick, GR411 from London City, GR659 from Southampton and GR679 from Manchester are marked cancelled. Estimated arrival times do not confirm that either aircraft landed. Alderney services were still expected to resume later in the afternoon if conditions permitted. A full return to normal operations was not expected on Friday; The Guardian reported Saturday morning as the earliest possible return. By 11.20pm, Guernsey Airport was displaying its Saturday 24 October timetable, including services involving London, Southampton, Jersey and Alderney, but there was no confirmation at that hour that those flights had actually operated.

Jersey’s red wind warning, issued on Thursday 22 October, was downgraded to orange at 11.58am local time on Friday, but road debris and other hazards remained. Jersey Met had forecast gusts of 70–80mph, around 110–130km/h, during the storm’s peak; ITV Channel reported a gust of 84mph, approximately 135km/h, at the airport. An afternoon restart had been considered, according to local reporting, but cancellations continued. Official flight boards rose from 34 cancelled movements at 1.05pm to 38 early in the evening, and ultimately 41 cancelled movements in the last Friday readings: 22 departures at 11.21pm and 19 arrivals at 11.41pm local time. Every flight shown on those final boards is marked cancelled, including services involving British Airways, easyJet, Aurigny and Loganair. These are departure and arrival movements, not 41 distinct aircraft, and the records do not establish Saturday’s operational outcome.

Loganair lists 18 Friday cancellations, including twelve on Jersey services involving Southampton, Bristol, Exeter and East Midlands: LM551, LM581, LM552, LM582, LM585, LM586, LM587, LM555, LM588, LM556, LM583 and LM557. Six others involve Manchester–Newquay (LM021 and LM024), Edinburgh–Exeter (LM315 and LM316) and Edinburgh–Southampton (LM325 and LM526). Thursday evening’s Southampton–Jersey LM558 had already been cancelled. Exeter’s flight board also lists LM585, LM586, LM315 and LM316, all of which are already included in Friday’s eighteen cancellations.

Loganair has offered eligible passengers booked on 23 October services involving Bristol, Newquay, Exeter, Jersey and Southampton changes without fees or fare differences for travel within fourteen days of the original departure. Aurigny also announced flexible changes for affected passengers between 21 and 23 October. Skybus issued an advisory for Land’s End and St Mary’s, allowing fee-free changes but reporting no cancellations in that notice, while Aer Lingus said it intended to maintain its schedule where conditions allowed.

Disruption in Britain extends beyond the Channel Islands. British press reports indicate that Southampton Airport cancelled much of its morning schedule, including services to Alderney, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast. Some of those flights may already be counted in airline cancellation notices, so they cannot simply be added to existing totals.

The storm’s effects have also reached the Netherlands. KLM told Reuters that it cancelled 20 flights on Friday 23 October because of strong winds and expected a further 22 cancellations on Saturday 24 October. Saturday’s figure is a forecast, not a completed cancellation tally. Amsterdam Schiphol said disruption across the airport was otherwise limited and that other carriers had not reported cancellations for the same reason, according to Reuters. The airport has not been reported closed.

Further weekend disruption in Britain should not automatically be attributed to Austen. The Met Office reports that Austen is moving towards the Low Countries, while another named storm, Boelo, is expected to affect Scotland and other parts of Britain on Saturday night and Sunday. Loganair has separately listed twelve Saturday cancellations in Scotland under its Boelo warning. They must not be counted as Austen cancellations.

Saturday 24 October brought the first confirmed reopening of airport operations in the Channel Islands, although Friday’s cancellations still affected passengers. Channel 103 confirmed that Guernsey Airport had reopened after all its Friday departures were cancelled; airport officials expected a particularly busy day. On Guernsey Airport’s official board at 12.32pm, arrivals from London Gatwick had revised estimated times, with several other services listed on time. This does not establish how many flights ultimately operated.

At Jersey, the official arrival board checked at 12.47pm showed Loganair LM586 from Exeter landed at 12.04pm, KLM KL1097 from Amsterdam at 12.19pm, and British Airways BA2522 from London Gatwick at 12.46pm. On the departure board at 12.45pm, flight 5O723 to Madeira was marked “Boarded”, which does not itself confirm takeoff, while BA1357 to London Heathrow remained cancelled. Flight operations were therefore resuming, but not every service was restored. Storm clean-up continued on Saturday, with further rainfall expected.

Disruption spreads as Paris CDG flights divert across Europe

As Austen moves north and east, Lille Airport’s flight board lists Ryanair FR6006 to Marseille, scheduled for 12.30pm, as cancelled, while morning departures to Barcelona, Prague and Nice operated. The board does not establish the reason for the FR6006 cancellation.

Further south, flights bound for Paris Charles de Gaulle have been diverted to airports well beyond the Paris region. Reuters, citing French transport minister Philippe Tabarot, reported diversions to Paris Orly. Flightradar24’s 23 October histories identify further destinations: Aegean A3610 from Athens and Air Serbia JU240 from Belgrade were both marked diverted to Brussels Airport. Air France AF1359 from Rabat was listed as diverted to Basel-Mulhouse.

Lyon Saint-Exupéry also appears as a diversion airport for Air France AF1135 from Berlin and AF7301 from Nice. Meanwhile, AF1643 from Geneva is shown returning to its departure airport. These six flights are identifiable in publicly accessible histories, not an exhaustive tally. Statuses may change if an aircraft later continues its journey, and these records do not establish the exact cause of each diversion or indicate that Charles de Gaulle or its alternate airports were closed.

Strong winds can slow baggage handling and the use of passenger boarding bridges. A late arrival can then delay several subsequent services, including flights far beyond the storm’s path. The official airport boards below provide a way to follow individual flights, while the reference cards that follow preserve disruption reported at specific times.

Confirmed disruption by airport and airline

These time-stamped reports distinguish cancellations that have been recorded from airports merely exposed to the weather. Individual flight statuses may have changed since they were checked.

Getting to airports amid rail and road closures

Rail suspensions and bridge closures on Friday may delay journeys to airports even where flights continue to operate. Access towards Paris Beauvais, Caen, Deauville and Le Havre is highlighted first in the table below. Most Paris-region restrictions concern specific branches and connecting journeys rather than an announced closure of all airport rail links.

In south-west England, Great Western Railway imposed reduced speeds in Devon and Cornwall until 1pm on Friday, cutting the number of trains and potentially delaying journeys and connections to Exeter and Newquay airports. CrossCountry also announced no Plymouth–Penzance services on 23 October and a reduced Bristol–Plymouth timetable. Passengers should check their actual rail connections before setting out.

Road and rail connections may be disrupted even when flights are operating. Before travelling, passengers should confirm their flight status with the airline and check their route to the terminal. If flights are delayed or cancelled, rebooking, refund and care rights depend on the circumstances and applicable rules. Severe weather may be an extraordinary circumstance for fixed compensation, but it does not automatically remove the airline’s other obligations.

Weather forecasts and airline schedules may change. Sources: Météo-France, updated 22 October; Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture, 21 October.