We’re used to hearing about "the wrong type of snow" or "leaves on the line" delaying trains – now there is a warning about wind disrupting air travel.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said today that long waits for passengers at the UK’s airports will depend on air currents. It’s likely that many will simply think he’s talking hot air, though.

Green made the comment to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. He said that bringing in risk-based security checks would not be a panacea to reducing queues.

Passengers travelling to London's Heathrow Airport from New York may well have longer waits to clear security if their flight arrives 10 minutes after one from Lagos, Nigeria, than if it arrives 10 minutes earlier.

"That will depend on the wind, over which, with the best will in the world, airlines and the Border Force don't have the control," he said.

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Mr Green said he was not against the introduction of risk-based controls, but a pilot last year was tainted by abuse which saw unauthorised queue-based controls being used instead.

But he told MPs on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee: "The other point I would make is that they (risk-based checks) would not be a panacea for queues.

"It's not at all obvious that just having risk-based controls reduces queues.

"They may well involve doing more thorough checks on some of those non-EU passengers."

Mr Green also called for better information on arriving passengers from airlines, saying that three times as many passengers arrived at Heathrow yesterday morning than were expected.

On Friday, the Border Force was told to expect some 2,500 passengers between 6am and 9am yesterday. This rose to 5,000 at six hours' notice, but in reality some 7,500 passengers turned up, Mr Green said.

"The general point is that the earlier and the better the information the Border Force can have from the airlines, the more likely it is the right numbers of people will be at the right desks at the right time," he said.

The opening of a central control room at Heathrow later this month, along with the introduction of 16 mobile teams of 10 people, will make a significant difference, he said.

Mr Green also announced that 70 new staff being recruited to work at Heathrow Terminal 2 when it reopens would start training immediately after the Olympics to ensure the Border Force retained its flexibility after the Games.