Flight cancelled "because of the weather": can you still claim?

By the Robin des Airs Editorial Team · Published October 31, 2026 · Sources reviewed: Regulation (EC) 261/2004 (Article 5(3)), CJEU case law on extraordinary circumstances

"Sorry, your flight is cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Extraordinary circumstance, no compensation due." It is the standard answer. It is sometimes right, and often not. Here is how to check it and how to challenge it. Depending on the real cause, up to EUR 600 per passenger may still be claimable.

What the law says

Regulation EC 261 provides that compensation is not due where the cancellation is caused by an "extraordinary circumstance which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken". For weather, two conditions must both be met:

  1. The weather must be truly extraordinary, not an ordinary storm or average wind.
  2. It must have directly prevented your specific flight, not merely disturbed another flight earlier in the chain.

The burden of proof is on the airline. For the general framework, see extraordinary circumstances under EC261 and the Eglitis ruling on reasonable measures.

Weather that really excuses the airline

  • A cyclone or hurricane officially classed as such
  • A snowstorm with an official, total closure of the airport
  • Very dense fog sustained for several hours
  • Volcanic ash (see McDonagh)
  • Unusual and extreme icing conditions

Weather that does NOT excuse the airline

  • Rain, even heavy: it is normal weather
  • Moderate snow in winter: it is foreseeable every year
  • Strong wind within the operating limits of the aircraft
  • The harmattan in West Africa (roughly January to March): foreseeable and recurrent
  • The tropical rainy season
  • A short thunderstorm

The decisive test: the other flights

Check Flightradar24 or Flightaware for the same airport, the same day, at similar times:

  • Did other flights take off?
  • Did others land?

If so, the airline's weather argument is seriously weakened. If the weather allowed other aircraft to fly, it may have allowed yours too. The airline would then have to prove a reason specific to your flight, which it rarely can.

The evidence to keep

  1. A screenshot of Flightradar24 showing the other movements of the day.
  2. METAR/TAF: official weather bulletins, free to download (Aviation Weather, ogimet.com).
  3. The e-mail or text from the airline announcing the cancellation and the reason given.
  4. Your booking confirmation and boarding pass.
  5. Every later message from the airline, including a refusal of compensation.

Families and groups

If you travel together, we build a single claim for everyone. Compensation is owed per passenger: for a family of four with a flight where the weather excuse does not hold, that means four times the amount, not one. See compensation per passenger for a family.

No result is guaranteed: each file depends on the real cause of the cancellation. Our check is free and we advance nothing on your side.

Frequently Asked Questions

The airline blamed the weather. Is that automatically valid?
No. The airline must prove that your specific flight could not operate AND that it took all reasonable measures. If other flights took off or landed the same day, the argument usually falls.
Which evidence should I check?
1) Official METAR/TAF reports (airport weather bulletins). 2) Flightradar24 or Flightaware: the other flights of the day. 3) Official posts from the airport. 4) Whether other aircraft of the same airline operated that day.
Are the harmattan or the monsoon extraordinary circumstances?
No. They are recurrent and foreseeable phenomena, and airlines are expected to plan for them (equipment, scheduling).

Was your cancellation blamed on the weather? You may be owed up to EUR 600 per passenger depending on the applicable text. Send us your ticket on WhatsApp and we check whether the refusal holds, free of charge.

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General information. This article is an educational summary of the texts cited, drawn from the documents available at the date shown. It is not personalised advice. Robin des Airs specialises in EU261 claims on the Europe-Africa axis. If your flight falls only under a national regime, we tell you which text appears to apply and the steps to take with the airline and the competent authority, but we do not handle the claim ourselves. Amounts and thresholds are indicative and may change: check the version in force with the authority of the country concerned before relying on a specific figure.