- Written by Jacqueline Howard
- bbc news
image source, kelly hamilton
Some passengers who traveled from Edinburgh to Bristol without passports found themselves in Paris.
Storm Isha has forced many flights in the UK and Ireland to be diverted to France and Germany, leaving passengers stranded at overseas airports.
Planes bound for Bristol, Dublin and London ended up in Paris, while planes bound for Edinburgh landed in Cologne.
Some domestic passengers had to sleep on the terminal floor overnight because they had left their passports at home.
The flight from Budapest made several aborted landings at Stansted Airport before returning to Hungary via Manchester.
Parts of the UK are experiencing the strongest winds in 10 to 20 years.
Kelly Hamilton was returning home on an EasyJet flight from Edinburgh to Bristol after visiting her parents over the weekend.
While other flights were completely cancelled, this flight was only delayed by an hour.
But once it got off the ground, it was clear that something was wrong.
“We headed towards Bristol and were told it was too windy to land safely, so we decided to turn around and see if the wind would subside,” Hamilton told the BBC.
“They didn’t and we were told that many of the UK’s airports were closed or that we would be diverted to Paris because it was not safe to land.”
As domestic flights became international flights, many passengers who forgot their passports at home were unable to pass through immigration and access hotels.
Mr Hamilton told the BBC that the pilot told passengers he had “not thought” of the issue.
image source, kelly hamilton
Hamilton was among those who spent the night at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
EasyJet said: “The flight was delayed overnight as the weather was not expected to improve, but we have taken all steps to minimize the impact on our customers, including providing hotel accommodation and meals.” said.
“Some customers who do not carry a passport have been asked by the French authorities to remain within the airport, and we have been working with the airport to make the experience as comfortable as possible for our customers ahead of today’s flight departure.
“While the situation is beyond our control, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Luke Bromage-Henry was also on a domestic flight that was diverted to Paris yesterday evening.
His plane was due to depart Jersey at 19:35 GMT and head to London Gatwick, but instead took off at 23:35 after remaining on the runway for several hours.
An attempt was made to land at Gatwick, but due to strong winds the pilot announced a diversion to France and landed at 03:30 local time (2:30 GMT).
“It was the worst trip to Paris ever,” he told the BBC.
“When the bus dropped us off at the transfer terminal, it was like we were all on our own,” he added.
image source, Luke Bromage-Henry
Luke Bromage-Henry spends the night on a terminal floor in Paris
Hamilton and Bromage Henry spent the night in a terminal at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
“I slept for about two hours under a chair in the transit terminal,” Bromage Henry said.
He was automatically rebooked on an EasyJet flight from Paris to Gatwick on Monday morning. Hamilton was scheduled to depart at 13:00 local time (12:00 GMT).
Pilots had to abort multiple landings at the Irish capital’s airport due to strong winds.
“It was crazy. [and] “It’s like riding a bull that throws you,” he said.
The plane eventually arrived in Dublin.
Other diverted aircraft included Ryanair flights from Tenerife and Seville to Edinburgh, which ended up at Germany’s Cologne-Bonn Airport.
Passengers on a Ryanair flight from Budapest to London Stansted were flown back to Hungary after several attempts to land at the airport were abandoned.
Olivia Lynes told BBC News, explaining the aborted landing. She said: “It was really bumpy, the worst turbulence, like a roller coaster, but we were stuck inside a metal tube.
“It was rocking from side to side.”
The plane then turned around and landed in Manchester, where passengers sat for three hours without any information, she said. Some passengers disembarked there, but the flight attempted to re-land at Stansted Airport but was ultimately forced back to Budapest in the early morning hours.
“It was terrible. There was no information at any point and it was, ‘We’re just on our way to Budapest,'” she said.
“I was wondering how I was going to get back. I was supposed to be at work today.”
Ms Lines criticized Ryanair’s lack of communication and food provision. Eventually she managed to catch a Ryanair flight from Budapest to Stansted this morning.
She said that while “you can’t control the weather,” she should have expected “something a little more human than what we’re getting.”
Ryanair said it “sincerely apologizes” to passengers affected by the disruption caused by the storm, which was “completely out of control”.
