UK hub Heathrow Airport has cancelled a total of 84 flights, including British Airways, United and Virgin flights, since the storm took hold on Monday.Passengers are being offered the opportunity to rebook or get a refund.And they are being urged to check their flight status before travelling.BA has cancelled 11 return flights from Heathrow to the US east coast – departures to New York JFK, Newark, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia are affected.Flights to and from Boston are expected to operate as normal, BA said.The airline has advised customers to check the status of their flights on its website before going to Heathrow.Virgin Atlantic has cancelled 14 which include some from Heathrow, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester to New York.American Airlines has cancelled six flights which were due to depart from the UK on Tuesday – four flights from Heathrow to New York, one from Heathrow to Boston and one from Manchester to New York.Delta has cancelled three flights from Heathrow to JFK planned for Tuesday, and US Airways cancelled two flights.

Some 47 arrivals from the US to Heathrow have been cancelled. The cancellations currently run until 18.30 GMT.States of emergencySandy lost its hurricane status late on Monday as it neared the coast and collided with winter weather systems at about 20:00 local time on Monday (midnight GMT), but was still generating hurricane-strength winds.It caused a record surge of seawater in New York City, flooding car and subway tunnels and leaving much of lower Manhattan without power.The storm has so far been blamed for at least 16 deaths in several states.An estimated 50 million people could be affected, with up to one million ordered to evacuate homes. Some three million are without electricity.Public transport has been halted in several eastern cities, and thousands of flights have been grounded.Nine states of emergency have been called in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and District of Columbia.President Barack Obama warned Americans to follow emergency instructions if they are in the storm’s path.British national Chris Sell, who has lived in New York for 23 years, told BBC Radio 5 live: “I think the city has done an amazing job of getting us all ready for it. I really think we are all as ready as we can be.The flooding is the big thing. It feels a bit like it did after 9/11 but we are a tough breed here.”