Bad weather and flight compensation: what the airline has to prove

Updated 16 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.

Your flight was delayed or cancelled, and the airline turned down your claim with one word: weather. Storms, fog, thunder, snow and strong wind can be extraordinary circumstances. But "weather" in a rejection letter is a claim, not proof. Quite often the storm was over before your departure, hit a different airport, or did not stop other airlines flying the same route.

What the airline has to prove

Under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, the airline only escapes compensation if it proves two things (Airhelp v SAS C-28/20, para 23):

1. The weather was an extraordinary event that hit your flight, at that airport and at that time.
2. It took all reasonable measures to avoid or limit the disruption.

The burden of proof is on the airline, and the exception is read narrowly (Wallentin-Hermann C-549/07). You do not have to prove why your flight was late. The UK's version of the rules, UK261, uses the same test.

What counts, and what does not

Can count: a storm, thunderstorm, fog or snowfall that closed the runway or cut the airport's capacity at the time of your flight, or weather on the route that made the flight unsafe.

Usually does not count on its own:

• Weather that had passed. If the airport was open again hours before your departure, the weather does not explain your delay.
• Weather that did not stop others. If other airlines flew the same route around the same time, the airline has to explain why it could not.
• Routine winter conditions. De-icing on an ordinary winter day is part of normal operations, Germany's Federal Court of Justice held (X ZR 146/23). See snow and de-icing delays.
• The rest of the delay. Only the part of the delay that the weather caused is excused (Pešková C-315/15). A two-hour storm does not explain a nine-hour delay.

Your airport, or somewhere else in the network?

Many weather rejections are about weather you never saw. The aircraft was stuck elsewhere, and the delay rolled on through the day.

The EU Court accepts that an airline can rely on an event that hit an earlier flight by the same aircraft. But there must be a direct link between that event and your delay, and the airline still has to show what it did afterwards (LE v TAP C-74/19). Airlines must also plan a reasonable time reserve (Eglītis C-294/10). So ask which flight was affected, where, when, and how that turned into your delay.

The reasonable measures test, and rerouting

This is where airlines lose most weather cases. Reasonable measures include getting you to your destination on another flight, also with another airline, directly or via another airport, if that gets you there sooner (C-74/19). An airline that only offers its own next flight the following day, while others flew that evening, has a problem.

Court and board decisions show the pattern:

• Denmark, Western High Court, 12 November 2021 (BS-25495/2021-VLR). Winter weather and air traffic limits at Amsterdam were accepted as extraordinary. KLM still lost, because it only checked rebooking with its partner airlines, not with Norwegian or easyJet.
• Denmark, Eastern High Court (U 2022.1199 Ø). A thunderstorm in Helsinki, and the passengers arrived 6 hours 30 minutes late in Copenhagen. An earlier British Airways flight would have saved about four hours, and the airline showed no attempt to rebook. The passengers won.
• Denmark, Western High Court, 11 May 2021. The same storm, two Ryanair cases. Ryanair lost where it showed no steps to limit the delay (BS-47686/2020-VLR) and won where it documented a bus and a new crew (BS-47051/2020-VLR). The evidence decided both.
• Sweden, ARN 2017-05137. The airline's own papers showed that the airport had reopened hours before the planned departure after fog. The fog did not explain the delay, and the passenger got €600.

What to ask the airline for

• METAR and TAF reports for the departure and arrival airports at the hour that matters. METAR is the actual weather observation, TAF the forecast. Both are public, and pilots and airlines use them.
• NOTAMs or airport notices showing a closure or reduced capacity, with start and end times.
• The aircraft's previous legs that day, if the airline blames weather elsewhere.
• Other departures: which flights, including other airlines', left the same airport or flew the same route in the same period.
• Rerouting: which alternatives it checked and why it did not offer them.

Check flight tracking sites yourself and take screenshots of other departures. A competitor flying the same route on time is often your strongest point.

Meals and hotel are owed anyway

Even when the weather really was extraordinary, the airline must give you meals, drinks and a hotel if you have to stay overnight. If it gave you nothing, you can claim back reasonable costs (McDonagh v Ryanair C-12/11). Keep the receipts.

UK and Ireland

• UK: for flights under UK261, go to the airline's dispute scheme (AviationADR or CEDR) after its final answer or 8 weeks without one, or to the CAA if it has none. Amounts are £220, £350 or £520. See UK261 claim rejected.
• Ireland: for flights from Ireland, complain to the Irish Aviation Authority. See the Ireland guide.

Step by step

1. Reply in writing. Say that the airline must show how the weather hit your flight and what it did to get you there, and ask for the evidence above.
2. Wait for the answer. See airline not responding.
3. Go to the complaint body for the country you flew from: KRIL in Finland, ARN in Sweden, Trafikstyrelsen in Denmark, Transportklagenemnda in Norway (see the Nordic complaint boards). In Spain, AESA, whose decision binds the airline for flights from 2 June 2023. In Germany, the Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr or the Federal Office of Justice's conciliation body. In Poland, the Passengers' Rights Ombudsman. In the Netherlands no body decides claims, so the route is the kantonrechter. Iceland: Samgöngustofa. Malta: the MCCAA.
4. Court if the airline still refuses. Deadlines differ by country; see EU261 time limits.

When it is worth it, and when not

Worth it: other airlines flew, the weather was over long before your departure, the airline shows nothing for your flight, or you waited until the next day although earlier flights existed.

Weak: a storm closed the airport for everyone for hours, the airline documents it, and it got you on the first reasonable flight. Then claim your meals and hotel and let the compensation go. Not sure? Try the rejection checker, or read about extraordinary circumstances.

Appeal My Flight's pack contains a reply to the airline and the board complaint, built from standard texts and your answers, for €29 per booking, however many passengers. You send it yourself and keep the payout. We cannot promise an outcome.

FAQ

The weather was fine where I was. How can it be the weather?

The airline may mean weather at the arrival airport or on an earlier flight by the same aircraft. Ask where and when, and how it led to your delay.

Do I have to prove that other flights were available?

No. The airline has to prove it took all reasonable measures. But naming specific flights helps your case.

The airline says air traffic control limited flights because of the weather. Is that different?

It is still the airline's job to show the limit hit your flight and that it tried to reroute you. See ATC restrictions.

My flight was cancelled days before because of a forecast storm. Can I claim?

If you were told less than 14 days ahead, the airline must still prove the storm made the cancellation unavoidable. A forecast that did not come true is weak proof.

Got the airline's reply? Paste it into the rejection checker and see what EU court rulings say about their excuse.