Storm Ciara helps a British Airways Boeing 747 shave 80 minutes off a New York to London flight

At four hour and 56 minutes, the flight became the fastest-ever subsonic passenger journey between the two cities

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, file photo, British Airways planes are parked at Heathrow Airport in London. A British Airways plane flew between New York and London in less than five hours, landing early Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at Heathrow Airport after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport, setting a record for subsonic plane travel. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
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Wind filled the highest ever portion of Britain’s electricity needs as Storm Ciara moved across the country, disrupting power supplies, interrupting transport and forcing football matches to be postponed.

High winds also helped shorten the flying time from North America to Europe. British Airways flight 112 became the fastest ever subsonic passenger flight from New York to London, at four hours and 56 minutes, according to tracker FlightRadar24.

Winds from Storm Ciara helped European-bound flights from America shave off flight times. Image FlightRadar24 via Twitter
Winds from Storm Ciara helped European-bound flights from America shave off flight times. Image FlightRadar24 via Twitter

“We always prioritise safety over speed records, but our highly trained pilots made the most of the conditions to get customers back to London well ahead of time,” BA’s head of global media relations Liza Ravenscroft said. The flight is normally scheduled for six hours and 55 minutes.

Wind power made up a record 56 per cent of demand early Saturday morning, when the need for power was low, according to data from utility Drax Group. The clean generation type made up 44 per cent of power for the whole of the day, beating the December 9 record, it said.

Carbon-free electricity outstripped power from fossil fuels for a full year in the UK last year, according to National Grid. The milestone was hit as the nation plans to shut down all coal plants by the middle of this decade and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Storm Ciara has brought gusts of as much as 128 kilometres per hour along with rain and hail to the UK on Sunday. Met Office chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said “it’ll remain unsettled and very windy across the UK and it’ll turn colder with wintry showers and ice an additional hazard, as we head into the new week".