Thunderstorms delay hundreds of Heathrow and Gatwick flights

Meanwhile, Easyjet passenger Will Poole told the BBC he had cancelled his holiday to the Greek island of Skiathos after his flight from Gatwick was cancelled and moved to Bristol.

He said he boarded shortly after 05:00 on Saturday but was returned to the gate at 11:00.

Poole said he “was eventually offered a complimentary snack and drink after five hours and an email with a £6 voucher to spend in Gatwick”.

Poole, who booked with Easyjet Holidays, told the BBC he was then offered a replacement flight at 07:00 on Sunday from Bristol Airport, more than 100 miles away.

“In the email it said ‘details to follow’ about them arranging a transfer, but no mention of a hotel,” he said.

“Easyjet staff in the terminal were not very helpful, saying we needed to speak to someone at Easyjet Holidays.

“I got through eventually and decided to cancel the holiday as they couldn’t get us on another flight within 12 hours.”

Poole said passengers understood the situation was out of Easyjet’s control, but “you’d like to think” the replacement flight would have been scheduled from Gatwick. He said he has been promised a refund within 28 days.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Easyjet said Mr Poole’s flight was unable to operate due to thunderstorms restricting the number of arrivals and departures at Gatwick.

“We’re really sorry that Mr Poole had to cancel his holiday with us due to weather disruption affecting his flight,” the spokesperson said, confirming that he would recieve a full refund as the company could not find an alternative flight suitable for his travel plans.

It added that affected passengers were being given options including refunds, re-bookings, hotel accommodation and meals where required.

An amber warning for extreme heat is in place until Sunday morning for parts of eastern and south-east England, while thunderstorms to the south of the UK are forecast to worsen throughout Saturday afternoon.

Eurocontrol said a “broad area of hot, unstable air” stretching from northern Spain to southern Sweden was likely to see further storm-cloud development overnight, adding that there was “a large degree of uncertainty” over when and where they would develop.

A London Gatwick Airport spokesperson said “temporary air traffic restrictions” had been put in place “due to ongoing thunderstorms across the network last night”.

A Heathrow Airport spokesperson said “adverse weather conditions” had led to “temporary air traffic restrictions impacting some flights”.