UK airports hit by air traffic control outage

Airports across the UK reported disruptions to departing flights on Tuesday due to a technical issue with the country's national air traffic control system. National Air Traffic Services said engineers were urgently working on the problem in its flight processing system, noting flights were still departing and airspace remained open, but recovery would take time. London's Heathrow and Stansted, plus airports in Manchester, Birmingham, and Scotland, warned passengers to check flight status with their airlines. Arriving flights did not appear to be affected, and the cause of the technical problem was not immediately clear.