More than 10,000 holidaymakers have been hit with flight cancellations and delays to and from London Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
British Airways axed 51 fights due to operate to or from Heathrow on Sunday, and a further 31 on Monday.
Several airlines also cancelled Gatwick flights. The worst affected was easyJet, with 34 flights grounded on Sunday and at least nine on Monday.
The disruption at both Heathrow and Gatwick had finally ended by Tuesday morning.
Affected passengers are unlikely to be eligible for compensation as the disruption is deemed to be out of airlines’ control.
But they are entitled to assistance, which could involve refreshments, overnight accommodation and rebooking with alternative carriers.
Images published by the MailOnline showed passengers sleeping overnight in Heathrow Terminal 5 after failing to secure hotels.
Holidaymakers were spotted surrounded by their luggage and trollies as they settled down for the night.
Flights to and from Lanzarote, Budapest and Venice were cancelled, the Independent reported.
At Heathrow, British Airways cancelled two round-trips to Rome as well as services to Naples, Barcelona and Larnaca in Cyprus.
EasyJet said the cancellations happened overnight due to poor weather conditions and air traffic control (ATC) disruption.
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Three EasyJet flights on Monday were impacted by the knock-on effects from Sunday’s weather and ATC restrictions, the Standard was told.
Flights otherwise appeared to be departing and arriving on time on Monday at both airports.
The airline said in a statement: “EasyJet operated around 1800 flights yesterday however some flights across Europe were unfortunately disrupted due to the impact of adverse weather and air traffic control delays.
“We have been doing everything possible to minimise the impact for our customers whose flights were affected, providing hotel accommodation and meals as well as a refund or a transfer to an alternative flight and are advising customers they will be reimbursed for expenses should they need to make their own arrangements.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our highest priority and while this is outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
British Airways told the Standard: “Due to air traffic control restrictions and adverse weather, like other airlines we’ve had to make a small number of alterations to our schedule.
“We know this will be frustrating for our customers and our teams are working hard to get them onto alternative flights as soon as possible, with the vast majority already booked onto services that will fly later today.”
Two BA aircraft were struck by lightning on Sunday, it is understood, and these jets were taken out of service for safety checks.
Several stranded passengers vented their frustrations on X, formerly Twitter.
One said: “EasyJet is the worst service ever!!! Cancelled my flight, won’t book me another hotel lol then says they can’t book me another hotel because the ones they use are sold out.”
Another said: “Would NOT recommend EasyJet. Approaching 48 hrs since we were meant to be home - opted for the train after 3rd cancelled flight.”
Ryanair apologised for “excessige flight delays” on Monday caused by the European ATC “staff shortages”.
The airline said in a statement on its website: “ATC services, which have had the benefit of no French ATC strike disruption this summer, continue to underperform (despite flight volumes being 5% behind 2019 levels) with repeated staff shortages.
“On Mon 8 Jul, 21% of Ryanair’s first wave departures (134 of 579 aircraft) were delayed due to ATC staff shortages. These repeated flight delays due to ATC mismanagement are unacceptable.
“We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control.”
It comes as Unite union announced that strikes by Gatwick baggage security screeners have been postponed following an “improved pay offer”.
The workers, who are employed by ICTS, “have agreed to call all off industrial action” scheduled to take place from July 12 to 14 and July 19 to 21 while they ballot on the offer, the union said.
Unite regional officer Dominic Rothwell said: “As a sign of good faith, ICTS workers at Gatwick have postponed strike action while they are balloted on the new offer.
“Industrial action by Wilson James workers can also be avoided but only if the company comes forward with an improved deal.”
