I remember coming into LHR in the late 90's and the crosswind component was so high that the spacing was of at least 3mins. The aircraft I was on was crabbing to such an extent that from my position in row 7 I could see the runway lights through the opposite side's window. The gale force winds were coming from the SW and sadly the old SW/NW runway was no more, so the last 10miles over the capital were interesting to say the least. Pilots did a fantastic job btw.
SHJ