Due to the weather, yesterday the @rafredarrows diverted into Brize after not being able to conduct an approach at Cardiff.

The reds will mostly fly ‘Visual Flying Rules.’ Which are a set of regulations under which a pilot flys an a/c in weather conditions clear enough to allow the pilot to see.

The weather MUST be better than the minimum weather requirements for Visual Met Conditions.

Aircrew will always hold en-route and destination ‘Alternates.’

These are aerodromes at which an aircraft would be able to land at in the event that a diversion becomes necessary, due to an emergency, bad weather, fuel issues, etc.

Weather en-route and at destination can have implications on the flt and cause a pilot to switch from Visual rules to Instrument Flt Rules:

‘Rules and regs to govern flts which can’t maintain visual refs and therefore depends flying by reference to instruments in the cockpit’

Yesterday the weather across the west of England had a cloud base as low as 300ft, a visibility down to 2000m and tall towering cumulonimbus clouds at some airports.

All of which makes flying 9 single seat fighters in close formation rather impossible with a high workload.

Weather, fuel, icing, turbulence, approach aids, runway conditions etc will be considered when making the decision to continue or divert.

Aircrew will be assessing the situation and using airmanship in coming to a decision.

This is especially pertinent when leading a 9-ship. https://twitter.com/rafredarrows/status/1294658639094054917