Brits share travel nightmares after ALL flights grounded at Heathrow and Gatwick

Thousands of holidaymakers are experiencing travel chaos after an air traffic control (ATC) fault caused major disruption yesterday.

The airspace above the capital was closed yesterday impacting all international departures - across all airlines. National Air Traffic Services (NATS), issued an alert of a "technical issue" yesterday afternoon. About 30 minutes after issuing an initial alert, the agency said engineers had fixed the problem and that it was "in the process of restoring normal operations."

Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Stansted, Newcastle, Manchester, Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton were among the airports affected. Passengers across the country have shared their frustration on social media, with people saying they're sitting on the runway with no sign of taking off. It comes after a warning to Brit tourists planning all-inclusive holidays to Spain.

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Furious passengers were forced to put their holidays on hold while others feared missing out on their loved ones' weddings as a result of the issue. Here's how the travel chaos has impacted some passengers...

John Carr, a chiropodist from Stourbridge, was one of thousands of stranded Brits left in limbo after his flight from Heathrow to Norway was cancelled at the last minute. He and a group of friends were on their way to his brother's wedding, for which he is best man, when he found out after checking in that his flight was cancelled.

The 35-year-old told said: "I'm pretty gutted. We've got loads of stuff in the suitcases to set up the venue, because we're obviously flying to Norway. We've got the wedding rehearsal to do. It's quite stressful." He added: "It's rubbish. There's nothing we can do. We don't know what we're going to do tonight in terms of accommodation. We have put our cars in special car compounds for the next six days."

His friend James Hedges, also from Stourbridge, said the group was in the departures lounge when they were told the flight was cancelled. 'He said: "We'd already checked in and gone through the security checks.

"We were in the departures lounge, and we were literally sitting down having a burger when it came up on the (screen). Our flight was still showing as if it was leaving, and they were waiting to give us a gate and that that would be given at 4.45pm. When that time came around, it then switched to cancelled."

Monica Clare, 68, from London, was hoping to watch her loved one walk down the isle but her flight from Heathrow to the Republic of Ireland was cancelled. She was flying out to attend the wedding in Limerick at 2.40pm today, but was stranded on the runway for almost three hours, before being told her flight was cancelled.

She said: "We were told to wait for a phone update about a flight tomorrow but others were told all flights tomorrow are already full. It’s totally awful. We probably have to go home and wait to see when the next available flight is. It looks like we’re missing the wedding," reports MailOnline.

Asha, 18, from Manchester, said the chaos had ruined her first holiday interrailing. She told the BBC her 3.10pm flight to Amsterdam had actually departed and was in the air for 50 minutes – before turning around. Hours later, she said she was still 'stuck' on the tarmac at the city's airport

NATS said the issue was resolved at around 4.43pm yesterday but knock-delays will continue.

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