After three days of fog led to the cancellation of around 200 flights to and from London Gatwick, more departures and arrivals have been grounded at the Sussex airport.

Planes and pilots are out of position, with flight time limitations also coming into play.

So far 27 more flights have been grounded at Gatwick, affecting up to 5,000 passengers. The biggest airline at the Sussex airport, easyJet, has grounded 17 flights. Inbound services from Aberdeen, Inverness and Belfast City were axed.

Departures on easyJet to Nice, Venice, Murcia, Milan, Naples, Innsbruck and Rennes have also been cancelled.

Passengers were told: “We were affected by a three-day disruption caused by low-visibility weather conditions in London Gatwick.

“This has meant that air traffic control has had to limit the number of aircraft that can arrive and depart, which has sadly led to delays and cancellations today. The safety of you and our crew is our highest priority, and we thank you for your understanding.”

British Airways has grounded flights from Gatwick to Algiers, Jersey (two services), Seville and Verona.

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings covering the New Year period, with every region of the UK covered at some point over the next week.

The forecast spells a turbulent New Years’ Eve for many as the bad weather is set to travel southwards across the country between 31 December and 1 January.

Here’s what the weather warnings look like today and over the next few days:

At London Gatwick, short-notice cancellations continued long into Sunday night, with easyJet in particular grounding dozens of flights as passengers waited in the terminals.

British Airways, Vueling and Wizz Air also left thousands of people stranded on Sunday with cancellations to and from the Sussex airport.

Many of the passengers who made it back to Gatwick were severely delayed, with some easyJet, BA and Tui flights arriving four hours or more behind schedule.

But the record delay on Sunday was a Ryanair lunchtime flight from Belfast International to London Stansted, which took off 12 hours late and landed at the Essex airport at 2.11am.

Northerly winds will draw cold air across the UK. Showers of rain and sleet will turn increasingly to snow, especially across the north, and coasts which are exposed to the onshore wind.

This cold, showery northerly may persist in the east, as high pressure builds in the Atlantic brings a period of more settled weather to western areas.

There is also a chance that rain may move in from the south over the first weekend of January, falling as snow as it runs into colder air. Into the following week, a fairly changeable picture is probable.

Wettest and windiest weather in the north and west, whilst the south and east will more likely remain more settled overall.

If you are flying from a UK/EU airport or on a British/ European airline and are delayed in arrival by at least three hours, the presumption is that you are owed hundreds of pounds in compensation.

The payment depends on distance:

• Under 1,500km, for example London to Nice: £220 or €250
• 1,500-3,500km, such as Manchester-Malaga: £350 or €400
• Above 3,500km, eg Birmingham-Dubai: £520 or €600. If a long-haul arrival delay is between three and four hours, the compensation is halved.

The only way the airline can avoid paying out is by demonstrating “extraordinary circumstances” were responsible.

extraordinary circumstances refers to “political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes”.

Met Office chief forecaster Andy Page said the forecast for the upcoming week was “complicated” and urged people to check the forecast regularly in order to update their plans.

He said: “Almost the entire UK is covered by at least one weather warning during the coming week.

“With such a varied and complex weather situation, there is potential for the pattern of warnings to shift and possibly escalate in some areas.

“With lots of celebrations and people on the move over the coming days, we are urging everyone to keep checking the forecast so they can update their plans.”