Flight cancelled due to weather: compensation and rights

If your flight is cancelled due to weather, you still have rights: the airline must offer you a choice between another flight and a refund of your ticket, plus care (meals and, if needed, a hotel), even when the cause is fog, snow or a storm. Compensation of €250, €400 or €600, on the other hand, is usually not owed, because dangerous weather is an extraordinary circumstance. But it is owed when the weather alone does not explain the cancellation or delay. Here is how to tell the two apart and what to do, step by step.

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Flight cancelled due to weather: what to do at the airport

When fog, snow or an Atlantic storm shuts down an airport, thousands of passengers want the same two things at once: a seat on another flight and a hotel room. The people who act first, and keep a written record of everything, have the best chance of getting away quickly and getting their costs back.

1. Get written confirmation of the cancellation and the reason (email, text or app), and take a photo of the departures board with the time.
2. Choose between rerouting and a refund: if you still need to travel, ask to be moved to the first available flight; if the trip no longer makes sense, ask for your ticket to be refunded.
3. Ask for meal vouchers and a hotel at the airline desk or in its app. If you are told to sort it out yourself, keep every receipt.
4. Do not accept a voucher instead of a refund unless you want one: a refund must be paid in money.
5. Watch the other flights: note which ones leave the same airport at the same time, including other airlines. It will help you see whether the weather really was the cause.
6. Write down the actual times you departed and arrived on the flight you finally took: they are needed to work out any compensation.

What you always get, even with fog, snow or storms

Regulation (EC) 261/2004 gives you three separate rights. Extraordinary circumstances such as bad weather only remove the last one:

Care has no time limit: if snow keeps the airport closed for two days, the airline must look after you for two days. And a ticket refund does not replace compensation when compensation is owed: they are separate rights, as our guide on refund or compensation explains.

When the weather is not enough: cases where compensation is owed

The regulation only lets the airline off when there are "meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight", and only if it took all reasonable measures to avoid the cancellation or delay. The burden of proof is on the airline. In practice, compensation is still owed in these situations:

• Other flights left. If other aircraft took off from the same airport, at the same time and to similar destinations, the weather hardly explains why yours was cancelled.
• The delay started earlier. If the aircraft was already late because of a technical fault or the airline's own scheduling, and that pushed it into the fog or the storm, the real cause is not the weather.
• The storm was elsewhere, hours before. The airline can only rely on bad weather that hit an earlier flight of the same aircraft if there is a direct link with your delay and it did everything it could to recover the time.
• Your flight was cancelled later, after the storm had passed. If the airline cancels flights the next day to reposition aircraft and crews, it has to prove that cancellation was unavoidable: often it is an operational choice.
• A general warning. A weather warning for the region is not enough: what counts is the weather that actually affected your flight, at the time of your flight.

For the other reasons airlines give for refusing, such as strikes and technical faults, read our guide on extraordinary circumstances. If the airline has already said no, see what to do when it claims extraordinary circumstances.

Fog, snow, wind and storms: seasonal examples for Irish travellers

• Atlantic storms (autumn and winter): named storms bring strong crosswinds to Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock. Landings may be diverted or go-arounds repeated, and flights are cancelled when gusts exceed the aircraft's limits.
• Fog: on calm winter mornings fog can slow arrivals at Irish and UK airports. If your flight leaves at midday, when the fog has lifted and others are taking off, a "weather" refusal deserves a closer look.
• Snow and ice: heavy snow is rarer in Ireland but can close runways for hours. On ski trips to Geneva, Salzburg or Innsbruck, clearing snow and de-icing aircraft cause queues and delays.
• Summer thunderstorms: on sun holidays in Spain, Italy or Greece, lightning can halt ground operations and departures for a few hours, mostly in the afternoon. In the Canaries and Madeira, strong winds can stop aircraft from landing.

In all these cases, care and rerouting are always owed. Compensation depends on what happened to your flight, not on what the forecast said.

Hotel, meals and expenses: how to get them back

If the airline did not give you vouchers or could not find you a hotel, you can claim back the reasonable costs you paid: meals, a standard hotel room, and a taxi or shuttle between the airport and the hotel. You need receipts and proof that the flight was cancelled or delayed.

• Write to the airline with the flight number, date, booking reference and a list of your costs, with the receipts attached.
• If you bought a ticket with another airline because yours did not rebook you, keep proof that you asked: it helps your claim.
• Prepaid hotel nights at your destination, missed excursions or events are not covered by the regulation: for those losses, travel insurance may help.

Flight cancelled due to weather: check whether compensation is owed

Working out whether the weather really was the cause is hard on your own: you need data on the flight, the aircraft and the other departures. With DelayFlight24 you can check for free in 2 minutes whether you are owed compensation for your cancelled flight or delayed flight: we review the airline's reason and, if the weather excuse does not hold up, we take the claim as far as court if needed. Nothing to pay upfront, and you only pay 25% + VAT if you get compensated.

Amounts are per passenger, children included: €250 up to 1,500 km (such as Dublin–London), €400 from 1,500 to 3,500 km (such as Dublin–Lanzarote) and €600 over 3,500 km outside the EU (such as Dublin–New York).

Frequently asked questions about flights cancelled due to weather

My flight was cancelled because of snow: does the airline have to pay for my hotel?

Yes. If your departure moves to the next day, the airline must offer a hotel and transfers, as well as meals and drinks, even when the cause is the weather and for every night needed.

Am I entitled to a refund if my flight is cancelled due to weather?

Yes. If the flight is cancelled you choose between a refund within 7 days and another flight. Extraordinary circumstances only remove compensation, not the refund.

The airline blames the weather, but other flights left: what should I do?

Note which flights left at the same time and ask the airline for details in writing. If the weather did not prevent flying, compensation may be owed: we can check it for free.

My flight left 4 hours late after a storm: am I owed anything?

Meals and drinks, always. Compensation depends on the cause: if the aircraft was already late for reasons within the airline's control, or the storm had ended hours before, it may be owed.

I have only been offered a flight in three days: can I switch airline?

Ask the airline for an earlier flight, including on other carriers, and get its answer in writing. If it refuses, you can choose a refund instead; always keep proof of what you asked for.

Find out more

• Air passenger rights
• Delayed flight: when you can claim compensation
• Cancelled flight: refund and compensation
• Overbooking: what you are owed
• What our service costs

Article updated on 05/11/2026 by the DelayFlight24 editorial team.