One in five flights cancelled as Storm Eowyn wreaks havoc

One in five flights from airports in the UK and Ireland was cancelled on Friday as Storm Eowyn caused disruption at several major airports.

Aviation analytics company Cirium said by 1pm some 1,124 flights scheduled to operate to, from or between the countries’ airports were axed.

That is equivalent to 20% of all flights, affecting around 150,000 passengers.

Dublin was the worst affected airport in terms of cancellations, with 120 departures and 110 arrivals.

That was followed by Edinburgh (85 departures, 80 arrivals), Heathrow (51 departures, 62 arrivals) and Glasgow (44 departures, 43 arrivals).

Hundreds of passengers also spent hours on flights which returned to their points of departure after being unable to land at their planned destinations.

Ryanair flight RK596 from Stansted, Essex, to Edinburgh reached the Scottish capital’s airport but could not touch down safely.

After circling over the Borders it returned to Stansted, landing two hours and 44 minutes after taking off.

Online systems initially showed the flight was diverting to Cologne, Germany.

Passengers onboard Ryanair flight FR338 from Luton to Dublin are enduring a similar experience.

The plane took off from the Bedfordshire airport at 9.33am, and is scheduled to land back there at 12.24pm after reaching the Irish capital but being unable to touch down.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “A small number of flights to/from the UK today are experiencing disruptions due to Storm Eowyn.

“We are advising passengers who have been affected by the storm to check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight.

“Ryanair sincerely apologises to all passengers affected by these storm-related disruptions, which are entirely beyond our control and have impacted all airlines operating to/from the UK.”