Barometer: Is climate change making the weather more windy?

Heathrow’s nine runways

When was a third runway for Heathrow first proposed? Heathrow was always planned to have multiple runways. On 10 April 1946, before the airport was even open, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Lord Winster, announced that the then London Airport was to have nine runways. Six would be in a Star of David pattern on the present site of Heathrow; the other three would form a triangle to the north of Bath Road, where the current proposal for a third runway is based. This was supposed to allow 160 aircraft movements per hour in good weather and 120 in bad weather. When Winster made his speech, three runways were already under construction. The third was later taken out of use, although part of it is still used as a taxiway.

Take the plunge

Biggest single-day falls in FTSE 100 history:

20 October 1987 -12%
19 October 1987 -11%
10 October -9%
6 October 2008 -7.9%
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