Airport Operations & wind
Planning to go to Gatwick for a spot of rubbernecking, I noticed that the wind at both Heathrow and Gatwick tomorrow morning are forecast to be from the South, gradually veering toward the West later in the day. At Gatwick, the earlier winds (before dawn) will be SSE. Given that neither airport has a N-S runway, how do the ATC determine which direction they will operate when the winds are southerly? Do they calculate that, as the wind will go West later, they might as well start off with westerlies?