Britain’s airport group BAA said bad weather hit passenger numbers by 130,000 last month as it battled against the “worst snow for decades”.

Passenger numbers were up one per cent to 7.9 million year-on-year in November, but would have been up 2.7 per cent if not for severe weather including snow, fog and strong winds.

Traffic at Heathrow was up 4.3 per cent in a fifth monthly record in a row, with the airport well prepared to deal with adverse weather.

But passenger numbers declined at all BAA’s other five UK airports – Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The east of Scotland was badly hit by snow, as Edinburgh lost 50,000 passengers, bringing numbers down by 3.9 per cent and Aberdeen lost 15,000 passengers, bringing its total down 1.9 per cent.

Traffic at Glasgow was down 0.8 per cent, but would have been level with last year if not for the severe weather.

A 3.2 per cent decrease at Southampton airport was also largely caused by snow late in the month.

All three Scottish airports and Southampton closed at some point in the month as a result of the weather.

Stansted and Heathrow stayed open, but Stansted recorded a 7.6 per cent drop in passenger numbers as low cost airlines relocated overseas.

Chief executive officer Colin Matthews said: “It has been a tough month for passengers with the worst snow for decades but people understand that safety comes first.

“We have invested in winter preparations and have worked around the clock to keep our airports running.”

Its domestic traffic, which was down 3.2 per cent, was the only major market to see a decrease as European and long haul flights rose.