Ryanair passengers have spoken of their "horrendous" experience after a flight from Dublin to Edinburgh was diverted 540 miles to Cologne in Germany, due to Storm Isha.
It was one of a number of flights sent on massive detours after pilots struggled to land in the UK on Sunday, as the nation was battered by winds as high as 99mph, with Scotland worst affected.
Grainne O'Malley, 28, told MailOnline how two flights from his homeland Ireland to Edinburgh were cancelled on Sunday, before he finally ended up on a flight that diverted to Cologne.
He told how the "horrendous" experience left him and other passengers sleeping on the floor of the German airport "like homeless" people.
"I didn't think I'd end up stranded in Germany," he told the news site.
"I got nothing. We got told to go to Ryanair desk and it didn't open until 6am.
That was some wind! It caused havoc for aviation.
— Gary Saddler (@GarySaddler2) January 22, 2024
Spare a thought for the Ryanair passengers from Seville, Tenerife, Dublin and Shannon to Edinburgh, who instead of enjoying Lorne Sausage, will be tucking into Bratwurst this morning as their flights were diverted to Cologne! pic.twitter.com/udXaCWJhT0
"4am in Germany, we were all left sleeping on the ground of the airport. It was horrendous, nobody from customer service told us anything.
"They could've said 'look get your own hotel' instead we were treated like homeless."
Another passenger named Ciara described on X how her flight from Dublin to Edinburgh - which was meant to take just over an hour - had landed more than 24 hours late.
The plane had been due to leave at 3.35pm on Sunday but did not leave until more than 10 hours later, at 10.45pm, she said.
"And then [we] went to Cologne not Edinburgh, we didn’t arrive in Edinburgh until 4.40pm today," she said on Monday.
Charlotte Roche's flight from Budapest to Stansted on Sunday was reportedly diverted via Manchester and Bournemouth, after pilots struggled to land.
@Ryanair This is your excuse for overnight accommodation when a flight is rerouted. Absolutely disgraceful. pic.twitter.com/LIlGsELuEe
— Elliott (@ElliottParkerXP) January 22, 2024
"It was horrendous, like something out of a film," she wrote on X. "We're all traumatised."
Anita Tennant from Dublin and David Balaney from Edinburgh told MailOnline their diversion to Cologne was "awful", describing the experience as "the worst in 32 years of flying".
William and Stacey Sneddon, from Edinburgh, told MailOnline: "We've been travelling for 28 hours. We're just so happy to be home."
Their flight to Edinburgh reportedly left seven hours late, but on arrival at the Scottish capital the pilot was forced to abort the landing.
"Pilot did well to try and attempt to land but aborting landing made more sense," said the couple.
"Even though it wasn't where we wanted to go, the attempted landing was so horrific. We were delighted to get on solid ground.
Five hours on a Ryanair flight from Tenerife to Edinburgh and you end up over 500 miles away in Köln in Germany 😭😭😭 #StormIsha pic.twitter.com/zEcF2iYzTo
— #AJ47 Connor 🇨🇱 (@cknnr17) January 22, 2024
"We were fortunate to be able to just get our own hotel as they were prioritising children and families which is fair enough."
One Ryanair passenger named Elliott Parker shared a video of people dragging pop-up beds and foil blankets into a luggage carousel area, writing: "Ryanair this is your excuse for overnight accommodation when a flight is rerouted. Absolutely disgraceful." He said the video had been taken at Paris Beauvais Airport, in Tille.
Another passenger said she was "disgusted" after her Ryanair flight FR3718 from Budapest was diverted to Manchester, after two failed attempted attempts at landing at Stansted.
Another traveller whose flight form Milan to Manchester was diverted to Stansted told MailOnline: "We were kept on the plane for over two hours with no information, and no amenities...The plane was stifling.
"The airport at Stansted was like scenes I have never seen, people lying on any free floor space for hours on end."
Passengers were filmed bursting applause after a pilot successfully touched down a diverted plane at Gatwick on Sunday, following a hair-raising landing amid Storm Isha.Meanwhile a pilot was filmed dramatically aborting his landing at Heathrow as a passenger jet was buffeted by high winds during Storm Isha.
Social media users used flight tracking websites to observe the erratic detours, documenting them on X.
Gary Saddler described the scenes as "havoc", writing: "Spare a thought for the Ryanair passengers from Seville, Tenerife, Dublin and Shannon to Edinburgh, who...were diverted to Cologne!"
"Five hours on a Ryanair flight from Tenerife to Edinburgh and you end up over 500 miles away in Köln in Germany," wrote another X user.
Ryanair said it "sincerely apologises" to customers affected by the diversions.
A spokesperson said: "Due to Storm Isha, some flights to/from the UK and Ireland on Sunday, Janaury 21/Monday, January 22 were disrupted, including this flight from Dublin to Edinburgh (January 21), which was forced to divert to Cologne where it was then delayed overnight.
"Despite Ryanair’s efforts to arrange accommodation for passengers, availability was limited, and passengers were advised that they could also arrange individual accommodation/transport and that they could claim back expenses on Ryanair.com.
"Ryanair sincerely apologises to all passengers affected by these storm-related disruptions, which were entirely beyond our control and impacted all airlines operating to/from the UK and Ireland on Sunday, January 21/Monday, January 22."
