Holidaymakers trapped overnight at Heathrow had to sleep on plastic terminal chairs after Atlantic storms grounded dozens of flights.
Heathrow and Gatwick Airports cancelled 125 flights on Sunday into Monday – impacting roughly 10,000 EasyJet and British Airways passengers.
After forming in the Atlantic Ocean in late June, Hurricane Beryl pounded the Caribbean, parts of the US and Mexico, sending a wave of torrential rain.
But its impact is being held hundreds of miles away in Britain, with torrential train and air traffic control issues sending the major London airports into chaos.
In Heathrow Terminal 5, which sees 10.5 million passengers travel through it each year, passengers unable to book hotels were seen surrounded by their luggage.
BA binned 51 flights departing to or from Heathrow on Sunday and 31 more on Monday. Flights to and from Lanzarote, Budapest and Venice were cancelled, as were two round-trips to Rome and services to Naples, Barcelona and Larnaca in Cyprus.
Easyjet grounded 34 flights on Sunday and nine the following day in Gatwick.
Both Heathrow and Gatwick’s websites report no major delays or cancellations at the time of writing.
EasyJet passengers hoping for a refund will be disappointed to know they likely won’t get their money back, as air traffic control restrictions are considered ‘extraordinary circumstances’.
Passengers heading to and from destinations including Lanzarote, Budapest, Venice, Belfast, Edinburgh, Rome, Naples, Barcelona and Larnaca have all been affected.
Ryanair has also issued a statement: ‘ATC services, which have had the benefit of no French ATC strike disruption this summer, continue to underperform with repeated ‘staff shortages’.
‘We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control.’
One passenger wrote on X that their flight was cancelled after the passengers had arrived at the gate in Gatwick.
Phil said: ‘After a one-hour delay, we were told the crew were out of hours. We were left stranded.’
Gatwick Airport wrote on X: ‘Poor weather, including numerous thunderstorms, across the UK and much of Europe, are causing some delays at the airport this afternoon.
‘London Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers whose journeys have been impacted.’
Some passengers shared their experience of spending four hours sitting on the tarmac at Gatwick Airport due to bad weather.
One plane flying from Stuggart to Heathrow was struck by lightning yesterday, forcing it to divert to Gatwick Airport.
Passenger Jeco, who shared an image of the lightning bolt on X, said: ‘The crew were amazing when our flight got struck by lightning on the approach to Heathrow.
‘It was shocking. The flight had to divert to Gatwick.’
Commercial passenger planes are thought to be hit by lightning once or two each year, according to the USA’s National Weather Service.
Beryl has spent more than a week tearing through the Caribbean, destroying roughly 98% of buildings across Carriacou and Petite Martinique, Grenada. Three people were killed.
Homes, schools and churches, among other buildings, were flattened by the hurricane in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Across Jamaica’s southern coast, two people died and hundreds of thousands of households were without power.
Beryl battered Cancún and Tulum in Mexico last week and reached Houston, Texas, over the weekend. At least six people have been killed by fallen trees or by drowning, officials confirmed yesterday.
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