Thousands of Brits have been stranded abroad after a huge sandstorm swept across the Canary Islands.
Around 860 flights have been grounded stranding 12,000 to 14,000 holiday makers on the island.
The Canary Government confirmed all passengers unable to fly are being put up overnight in hotels.
Gran Canaria airport is slowly started to operate again and it is hoped the some of the tourists will be flown out overnight.
So far today about 360 flights have been affected and another 500 will be hit by the "calima".
Incredible satellite images show the huge sandstorm stretching across the ocean from the Moroccan coast before reaching the Canary Islands.
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At a press conference tonight Ángel Víctor Torres, president of the Canary Islands, stressed that the airspace is not closed and only Tenerife South is not allowing flights in or out.
It is hoped that Tenerife south will start operating again within the next few hours.
Passengers have posted photographs of people sitting on the floor waiting for more information.
Greg Horsman, 29, was on holiday with his girlfriend and his friends on a Tui cruise and was due to fly home to Manchester on Saturday evening.
However, they have been forced to stay in Gran Canaria for another two nights due to the storm.
He told PA: "It's frustrating. We're just ready to be home.
"Last night we were in the airport for five hours and I was frustrated because Tui couldn't help us or do anything until the airport declared that they were closed which they did at 10.30pm.
"Tui reps did give us updates when we asked but unfortunately it didn't seem they were getting much information quickly.
"We then spent the night there, most of us in our original cabins, then came back to the airport at 12.30pm and have been here since.
"We are being sent to a hotel tonight but we're not sure where we're going to yet."
He added: "We're frustrated because there should be contingency plans for when a weather event grounds flights.
"They all kept saying 'Oh we've never seen this happen before' which I understand, it's a freak of nature, but when weather grounds all flights there is surely a contingency plan that gets put into place so people can get accommodation sorted."
To further complicate matter, Tenerife and Gran Canaria authorities are also fighting a number of fires which have broke out in various locations.
The Canary president said: "We are under the influence of four phenomena with the alert for strong winds, the calima, coastal phenomena and forest fires.
"All the mechanisms required by the protocol have been activated. We have had fires in Gran Canaria in two municipalities and in six municipalities in Tenerife.
"We have a direct thread with the two Presidents of the Cabildos and 90 members of the UME (Emergency Military Unit) and 100 Civil Guard agents in Gran Canaria, and another 100 and more than 50 of the UME in Tenerife are working.
"In addition, there are more than 90 troops prepared in Seville to move to the islands iof the situation worsens."
"The wind has caused the worst of the fires, in addition to the temperature rise in the calima. All the operations have been terrestrial due to the difficulties to operate by air for the calima. The level of both fires is 1 at the moments.
"We hope that this condition does not increase in the two islands and therefore will get better in the next few hours."
Graham Whiteman, 30, arrived at Las Palmas airport at 5pm on Saturday night, but discovered his Tui flight back to Doncaster - which he was due to be on with his fiancee and her family - had been cancelled.
He said: "We were told we needed to check the boards for updates.
"We didn't get any and then at 1.30am we found a Tui rep, who then sorted us out with a hotel room on the other side of the island at 4am.
"We got an email at 7.58am saying a coach would be leaving the hotel at 8.30am to take us to the airport and we've been here ever since."
He added: "I am Type One diabetic and when I explained to a Tui rep that I will not have enough insulin for the next 24 hours, their response was that they would deal with it when it becomes an emergency.
"The duty of care for their customers is a disgrace, they do not want to take responsibility for anything or anyone. Children and elderly adults having no option but to sit and sleep on the dirty airport floors.
"We understand the weather conditions is not their fault but how they have catered for their customers is disgusting. It's basically a failure of Tui and their staff."
A spokeswoman for Tui said: "We would like to sincerely apologise to customers for the disruption caused by the adverse and changeable weather conditions in the Canary Islands on Saturday February 22 and Sunday February 23.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our highest priority and we are working tirelessly to find the best solutions for all our customers.
"Everyone is being provided with food and drinks as well as being supported by our Tui reps. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this is causing and would like to thank our customers for their co-operation and patience."
