Planes overhead in WC2N
Westminster and Islington, London. All 142 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 WC2N. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 15 a day; of its 142 postcodes, 138 at 10 to 99, 4 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 11 a day; of its 142 postcodes, 23 at 10 to 99, 119 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 2 a day; of its 142 postcodes, 142 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WC2N 453 postcodes | 49 at 10 to 994 under 10 | 53 under 10 | 53 under 10 |
| WC2N 540 postcodes | 40 at 10 to 99 | 12 at 10 to 9928 under 10 | 40 under 10 |
| WC2N 649 postcodes | 49 at 10 to 99 | 11 at 10 to 9938 under 10 | 49 under 10 |
Also counted here: London City, at most 1 a day over any of its postcodes.
3 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 WC2N
WC2E WC2H WC2R SW1Y WC2B SW1A WC2A WC1V
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.