Aer Lingus flights among those cancelled at Heathrow over snow

There's bad rugby news for some Irish rugby fans heading to Twickenham for the weekend as they could face travel disruption in London.

Over 70 flights in and out of Heathrow Airport have been cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Most of the flights are short-haul ones due to depart today, Saturday. Irish carrier Aer Lingus is one of the airlines affected. Other airlines with flights grounded include British Airways, Lufthansa, TAP Air Portugal and KLM. Snow and ice are expected to hit the UK over the weekend in what's being dubbed the 'Son of the Beast'. Thankfully, there's not likely to be a repeat of the chaos caused by last month's Storm Emma, a spokesperson for Heathrow has said. "While this weekend's weather may result in minor delays and some airlines consolidating flights, significant disruption at Heathrow is not currently expected," they told The Evening Standard. "We are working closely with our on-site Met Office to monitor the further snowfall expected throughout the weekend." It's advised that anyone due to travel in or out of Heathrow should check their flight information with their airline. Meanwhile, Met Éireann has issued a nationwide Status Orange weather warning across Ireland as heavy snow is predicted. Today and tonight will be cold and windy and we can expect showers of rain, sleet and hail during the day, with snow on high ground. This evening, showers will turn to snow in on lower levels as well. The highest temperatures will be just 2 or 3 degrees in the east and 5 to 7 along the Atlantic seaboard.