A TEENAGER, who went to school in Winchester and is trying to be the youngest woman ever to fly around the world solo, is back underway after she was stuck for a month.

Zara Rutherford, who studied at St Swithun’s school, set out on her journey on August 18 and was expected to finish in three months, but visa problems and bad weather conditions meant she was stuck in Alaska from the end of September until October 31.

Zara’s journey was originally projected to finished in the middle of November, but the delays mean she is now expected to finish on December 8 in Kortrijk, Belgium, which is where she set off from.

Zara arrived in Nome, Alaska, on September 30, but couldn’t cross the Bering Straits to Russia because her visa would have expired when she arrived as it meant crossing the International Date Line.

Therefore, she had to wait for the new visa to be delivered, which she got on October 8.

However, Zara still couldn’t leave Nome due to bad weather conditions. They eventually cleared, meaning she could take off over the Bering Straits to Russia on October 31.

When she arrived in Russia, Zara posted on her Facebook page, FlyZolo: “Finally made it to Russia! Just in time before the days start getting too short.

“So happy to be over the Pacific and onto the second half of the world.

“First bit of the flight was more challenging, a few snow showers here and there to dodge and some low clouds but nothing major. Later it was stunning blue skies all the way!”

The next leg of the journey will see Zara fly south into Asia where she will visit South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Myanmar before continuing west towards India.

Zara has both British and Belgian nationality and is following in the footsteps of her parents, who are both pilots.

She studied at St Swithun’s School, and the solo trip is her gap year project before she goes to university, where she plans to study computer science or computer engineering, with the long-term ambition of becoming an astronaut.

The current female record holder is American Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 at the time of her circumnavigation in 2017, while the youngest male record-holder was 18-years-old.