BRITS face a desperate New Year’s Eve travel dash after hundreds of flights were delayed and dozens axed as fog swept the UK.

More chaos is in store today after 19 flights were cancelled at Heathrow and 16 at Gatwick yesterday.

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Nearly 800 flights were delayed at the two London airports – with disruption set to drag on today.

The UK’s main air traffic controller Nats is keeping air restrictions in place as the last of the fog lingers.

A spokesperson said: “Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety. We continue to monitor the situation.

“We have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information.”

Today is set to be Gatwick’s busiest day of the festive season, with 769 flights planned.

The airport said: “Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place due to fog causing poor visibility.”

At least five outbound EasyJet flights from Gatwick to European airports have already been delayed this morning.

Today will be wet and windy in the north, with heavy outbreaks of rain across Scotland.

It will be more settled further south, although cloudy to start – before sunny spells develop into the afternoon.

The skies will stay cloudy across western hills, with persistent patchy drizzle in places.

Tonight will be widely cloudy with rain sinking slowly southwards across Scotland, falling as snow across the higher ground.

There will be patchy rain elsewhere, though feeling chilly beneath clearer skies in the far south.

Tomorrow will remain wet in Scotland with snow possible in some places.

Elsewhere there will be plenty of cloud with patchy light rain in the west and wind across the Pennines.

It will be mild for most Brits before frequent heavy showers and strong winds arrive over New Year’s Eve and into the new year.

The mercury will sink from Thursday onwards – with blustery, perhaps wintry, showers.

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