Marina and her partner boarded a 7.40pm flight on Spanish airline Vueling from Barcelona to Gatwick on Sunday night, returning to London after their holiday.
“After a 30-minute delay at Barcelona Airport due to 'destination weather conditions', our flight finally took off for Gatwick at 8pm,” she said. “The pilot made two attempts to land at Gatwick, but conditions were too difficult. All the passengers were screaming and some were having panic attacks.”
Marina, 32, also contacted the Guardian to share the impact of Storm Isha, which has battered the UK and Ireland since Sunday with wind gusts of 167mph, causing widespread travel disruption and damage. I was alone.
Airlines were forced to cancel, delay or reroute numerous flights across the UK on Sunday and Monday.
“I was told that I would have to wait about 15 minutes. [if landing would still be impossible then] It will try to land in Manchester,” Marina said. “After another hour of flying above the storm, the pilot announced that we were all heading to Amsterdam,” she said.
“It was very scary. When we arrived in Amsterdam, we were all very happy to have landed safely on the ground and the pilot received applause.”
But when they arrived at around 11:30 p.m., Marina said the passengers were informed that Amsterdam Airport had not given them permission to unload luggage and people from the aircraft.
“After refueling, we were told we would be flying back to Barcelona again. We waited on the plane for hours as the storm slowly approached the Netherlands. We got off the plane without any checked baggage. Finally, at 3:30 a.m., everyone was asked to get off the plane. At 4:30 a.m., we were told that there were no passengers on the plane, but that all of our checked baggage had been loaded and we were heading back to Barcelona. It was done.”
According to Marina, since the Vueling flight from Amsterdam to London was not scheduled for several days, some people agreed to be put back on the flight to Barcelona for free and that they would be sent to London again at the next opportunity. He said he was looking forward to it.
Some decided to continue traveling by train or find alternative flights.
“Right now, we have no idea where our luggage is,” she said. “Poor ground staff in Amsterdam began their first day by attending to 135 angry passengers who had traveled over 10 hours to London. …Many had connecting flights but of course missed them. .”
Marina and her partner had to work on Monday morning, so they managed to book a hotel on their own.
“We try to sleep three hours and work in the hotel lobby,” she said. “I purchased a new ticket for tonight's 9pm flight. The ticket price has now been refunded, and I will definitely be refunding the other costs as well. It's all been very stressful.”
Thousands of people were also left without power as Isha disrupted power grids across the UK and Ireland.
Michaela Saunders, 68, who lives on a farm with her husband in the rural county of Haddingtonshire in south-east Scotland, said the storm was truly “life-threatening” and caused power outages to the entire town from 10:30 p.m. . on sunday.
After newsletter promotion
“I think the danger is in rural areas where there are a lot of overhead power lines, whereas in urban areas the power lines tend to run through ducts,” she says. “So the line is [in rural areas] It comes down to the road. It is hit by flying debris. ”
Mr Saunders, who is one of thousands of properties in Scotland prone to power outages, has installed a generator in preparation for such situations, which he said is a “privilege not everyone can afford”. Told.
“The estimated reconnection time is 10pm today, but there are no guarantees. My home is warm and comfortable and there is light,” Sanders said, but expressed concern for local residents with health issues. did.
“Can they communicate with medical services? Do they have mobile service that works? Fortunately, the weather is very calm. Many people do not have generators, so there will almost certainly be loss of life.”
Chris, a 42-year-old IT consultant from Brixton, south London, said his dog Tonks saved him from being hit by a falling tree splinter during a walk around 7pm on Sunday night.
“While we were out, there was a particularly strong gust of wind and we could hear it crackling overhead,” Chris said. “I didn't think anything of it. Luckily, my dog is always on alert for loud noises. She heard it, got scared, and pulled me forward.” When I turned around, a large tree branch, about 3 inches thick at the cut, had crashed into the sidewalk right where we were.
“It's a bit of a lucky escape. If it had cracked my head, I would have passed out.
“Although she's not a Rough Collie, we should change our dog's name to Lassie. She got a lot of treats.”
Vueling Airlines has been contacted for comment.
