London: Radar issue delays flights at Heathrow and Gatwick airports

A technical problem with the traffic control system caused a delay in flight operations at two of Britain's busiest airports-- Heathrow and Gatwick--causing passengers to meet chaos amid a record-breaking heatwave on Friday.

The UK's main air navigation service said it was dealing with a technical problem with one of the radars at the air traffic control centre in Swanwick, southern England, which was causing the flight restrictions, CNN reported.

"We are doing all we can to fix it as soon as possible," National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said in a statement Friday.

Heathrow and Gatwick, the UK's first and second busiest airports, confirmed to CNN that they had been experiencing limitations to their flight operations due to the air traffic control problem.

"Flights continue to arrive and depart from Gatwick however NATS -- which controls UK airspace -- currently has an issue with one of its radars and has put limits on the number of flights that can use Gatwick and other London airports," Gatwick Airport said in a statement.

Heathrow, which saw a record-breaking 37.9 Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) yesterday, said: "Flights are currently arriving and departing at Heathrow, and we are supporting NATS to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologise to passengers for any disruption that occurs as a result."

Meanwhile, Stansted and Luton airports said that their services were unaffected.