The BBC reports on the shutdown of the airspace over Southern England and Wales:

Friday: London airspace closed after computer failure

London airspace has been closed until 19:00 GMT after a computer failure, air traffic controllers have said.

The news was announced in a brief message on flight safety body Eurocontrol’s website.

UK air traffic controllers Nats confirmed a “technical problem” at its Swanwick control centre in Hampshire.

Today: Flight disruption: Air traffic glitch ‘not seen before’

In a statement, Nats said the number of workstations “in use” at its control centre versus “in standby” fluctuated with the demands of the traffic being controlled.

“In this instance a transition between the two states caused a failure in the system which has not been seen before,” it said.

“The failure meant that the controllers were unable to access all of the data regarding individual flight plans which significantly increases their workload.”

It turns out that the air traffic control system is at 98% of capacity, which is effectively full, so it can’t take any surges of data, like bringing more terminals on line. They have no reserve capacity and people are talking about adding another airport near London while the government is cutting positions at the current facility.

Converting the Nats system to a public-private enterprise has had the usual results of such attempts – it’s more expensive and less effective than the public system that it replaced.

This is Saint Lucia’s Day for Scandinavians.

It features special treats that are handed out by a girl wearing a crown of candles, Lucia coming from the Latin for light, LUX.

Saint Lucia was an early Christian martyr from Syracuse on Sicily, but her official feast day, December 13, fit perfectly with the local pagan celebration of the Lussi on December 13, which was the Winter Solstice at the time. Yep, more cover to continue the fun mid-winter celebrations by pretending they are associated with Christianity to get the Church off everyone’s case.