Planes overhead in WC1B
Camden and Islington, London. All 156 of its postcodes measured, January to August 2026.
From Heathrow
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Heathrow flies, and that decides how many pass over WC1B. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 11 a day; of its 156 postcodes, 8 at 10 to 99, 148 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 8 a day; of its 156 postcodes, 156 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 2 a day; of its 156 postcodes, 156 under 10
The table counts the postcodes of each sector by how many planes pass over them a day: 100 or more, 10 to 99, or under 10.
| Sector | Flying west56% of days | Both ways15% of days | Flying east29% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| WC1B 389 postcodes | 4 at 10 to 9985 under 10 | 89 under 10 | 89 under 10 |
| WC1B 425 postcodes | 4 at 10 to 9921 under 10 | 25 under 10 | 25 under 10 |
| WC1B 542 postcodes | 42 under 10 | 42 under 10 | 42 under 10 |
Also counted here: London City, at most 1 a day over any of its postcodes.
1 of its postcodes have a position ONS estimates, so their figures may be for a spot a few hundred metres away.
What counts as overhead
Overhead means more than halfway up the sky (48.5 degrees or more) and below 7,000 ft, the CAA's definition of an overflight (CAP 1498). A day counts as one way when 80% of its flights used that way.
Near WC1B
WC1A WC1N WC2B WC1V WC2H WC1R W1T WC1H
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Heathrow. Flight tracks: adsb.lol (ODbL 1.0); Weather at each airport: Iowa Environmental Mesonet; Ground heights: Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right; Postcode positions: ONS National Statistics Postcode Lookup (OGL). Licence: Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0.