I should have made it clear that the problem was the adverse weather conditions, not the aircraft destination ! The Birmingham runway wasn't reopened until about 1830 GMT but I don't know waht happened to this particular flight.
I think that's the situation most of the time here also, they load the plane thinking they might be able to take off, then "The FAA has closed down the airport" (which is what they tell the passengers, cuz it could never be the airline's fault).
Then they sit, and sit, and sit, waiting for the wx to clear up.
The "solution" to the problem here, has been to pass a law that requires the airlines to provide water and toilets to the passengers IF the wait is over a certain length of time - something like 4 hours.
Just recently a man complained because his pregnant wife was unable to get water for four hours waiting on the tarmac, and according to the gubmint, it was OK, cuz it was less than the required amount of time.