Gatwick managers met yesterday to discuss the possible impact of the oil depot fire in Hemel Hempstead.

The airport gets some of its fuel from the site at Buncefield, which was rocked by huge explosions at 6am on Sunday.

The blast could be heard up to 40 miles away and flames shot 200 ft into sky.

The site is one of the leading providers for the UK's airports, delivering millions of litres of aircraft fuel every day.

Ian Neave, Gatwick terminal manager, said: "We have had no impact on flights from the fire so far and we do not anticipate any.

"We get varying amounts of aircraft fuel from different sources and less than a third of our daily intake comes from Hemel Hempstead."

A spokeswoman said operators running routes to Europe could refuel abroad in the event of shortages.

Meanwhile, the plume of thick black smoke from the burning depot, which was heading for the South Coast, looked set to change course.

Weather forecasters yesterday predicted a south-westerly wind would stop it reaching East or West Sussex.

The wind was expected to pick up today but could change to a south-easterly wind tonight or tomorrow morning, blowing the smoke cloud towards West Sussex.

Much of the smoke has risen up to 9,000 ft into the air where it will not affect human health.

But there are concerns rain could mix with the smoke to create "black rain", a mixture of soot and water which could contaminate farmland for grazing animals.

Chris Todd, from Friends of the Earth, said: "Anything like this has a big environmental impact. At the very least we are going to see additional carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere."