Hundreds of flights at Heathrow and Gatwick airports have been delayed and dozens more cancelled due to thunderstorms.
Nearly 800 flights have been delayed at the capital’s two biggest airports so far on Saturday, while many other flights axed due to the stormy weather.
At least 377 flights arriving at or departing from Heathrow have been hit with delays on Saturday, according to tracker FlightAware, as well as 399 in and out of Gatwick.
UK air traffic control service said delays were expected to continue for the rest of the day.
The delays have brought misery to passengers. One person berated British Airways on X: “ Terminal 5 customer service service must have 150 people waiting after delayed flights and missed connections!! 3 staff trying to sort this out, its sweltering and no air con or water to be had... Shocking to be honest!”
Another man on a cancelled flight from Gatwick to Rhodes added: “Five hours held on a plane with one refreshment offered. No clear answers, is it cancelled, do I have a flight on Monday? I need answers as the treatment has been DISGUSTING.”
Heathrow and Gatwick are understood to be the only two UK airports currently facing "heavy" delays due to inclement weather, according to Europe-wide aviation agency Eurocontrol.
It comes as thunderstorms swept across the UK last night and in the early hours of this morning. Lightning strikes were seen across London and are suspected of starting a house fire.
The storms have now swept across the Channel to northwestern Europe.
Europe-wide aviation agency Eurocontrol said the most severe air traffic control delays were in airspace between south-east England and northwestern Europe, saying that flights travelling on flight paths outside of the storm area are still operating as scheduled
There have been warnings further thunderstorms are possible in the UK this weekend.
One affected passenger Adam Joseph, 29, told BBC News that he had been stranded at Venice airport in Italy without air conditioning because his flight to Gatwick had been delayed by over four hours .He was due to depart Venice at 12.30pm local time but said the plane had not yet left London on its outbound leg.
Others have taken to social media to seek advice and vent their frustration.
One person asked Easyjet on X: “My daughter has been sat on a plane at Gatwick for 4 hours and now you’ve cancelled the flight. She’s on an easyJet holiday. What should she do?”
Another user wrote: “We've been on board EZ8811 at Gatwick for 4.5 hours. The captain has announced the aircraft is ready to depart but we're waiting for a tug crew to push back. We're desperate to get to Montenegro for our holiday. Can someone from operations please assist?"
NATS, the UK's air traffic control service, said "weather disruption was expected to continue through the rest of the day" after "forecasted severe weather across the south east of England".
A spokesman for Gatwick airport said: "Due to ongoing thunderstorms across the network last night, temporary air traffic restrictions were put in place, which resulted in some flights being delayed and cancelled this morning."
A Heathrow airport representative added: "Adverse weather conditions and thunderstorms across the UK and Europe has led to temporary air traffic restrictions, which means some flights at Heathrow were impacted this morning.”
