There were chaotic scenes at British airports today as passengers faced severe delays amid a major anti-terrorism security clampdown.

Tutti i passeggeri saranno perquisiti a mano.

A terror plot to kill thousands of people by detonating explosives on up to 10 transatlantic flights from the UK was disrupted by police and the security services overnight.

E’ stato decretato il livello di allerta critico: significa - secondo l’MI5 citato dalla Bbc - che “ci si aspetta un attacco imminente e indica un livello di minaccia al Regno Unito estremamente alto”.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said in a briefing today: “We believe we have been very successful in arresting suspects, but this is a very early stage of a very extensive and complex operation. It is a very, very serious plot… Put simply, this was a plot to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale.”

Tutti i titoli delle compagnie aeree e delle assicurazioni europee stanno accusando pesanti perdite. La più colpita è British Airways, che perde il 5,9%. A Milano, Alitalia cede il 2,61%.

Mr Reid warned the operation would create major disruption at all UK airports from today but added: “As far as is possible we want people to go about their business as normal.”