A mum was petrified when her Ryanair flight was caught in a storm which hit Liverpool.
Eileen Felton, 61, and her husband Carl were flying back from Palma, Mallorca on Saturday night (June 10). However, their arrival into Liverpool John Lennon Airport was delayed due to the storm which hit Merseyside.
Temperatures peaked at around 28C on Saturday but the sunny weather came to an abrupt end at around 6pm, when dark clouds gathered over the region. The Met Office's weather warning for thunder was upgraded from yellow to amber and torrential rain battered Merseyside.
READ MORE: 18 photos as sun replaced by thunderstorms on hottest day of year
Thunder and lightning followed and the storm continued for hours, causing chaos. Lightning struck a Merseyside church, the Bootle Music Festival was cancelled and roads flooded.
The weather also affected planes heading in and out of the city. A screenshot from Flight Radar shared with the ECHO showed the Ryanair flight from Palma circling around the North West at around 8pm as it tried to land in Speke.
After being delayed leaving the Spanish island, the flight was late to its destination having faced turbulence above Liverpool. It landed at 8.12pm, over two hours later than planned.
Eileen, from Runcorn described the conditions as "horrendous - the turbulence was the worst I’ve known".
The mum-of-two told the ECHO: "We had been away to Alcudia in a group of seven. We were delayed leaving but it got worse.
"As we got over the North West, they said 'we're coming into turbulence, please take your seats. That was before we hit the turbulence itself.
"Once we hit it, it was horrendous. I was holding the life out of my husband's hands. Luckily one of our friends on the trip works as a crew member on planes and he was able to explain what was going on.
"There was a family in front of us and the kids were so scared, they were screaming. The plane was bouncing up and down in the wind, it was going on for about 50 minutes - my fear level went through the roof."
The screenshot from Flight Radar shows the plane's journey around the region. It looped over North Wales, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Widnes and Warrington as it tried to land safely".
Eileen added: "Every time we would go down to land, it would go up again. My daughter was waiting for us at home and she said she saw the flight go over the house twice.
"After 50 minutes of going around, when we eventually came into land, it was like I was braking with the pilot. My feet were pressing down into the floor - I was petrified.
"When we did land, there was a massive cheer and clap. I've never been so scared. I was so relieved to get off the plane.
"The pilot did his best, thank god - going up and down before he could land. But it was just scary all around".
The storm calmed finally between 9pm and 10pm. A yellow weather warning remains in force for thunderstorms today.
A Ryanair spokesperson said:“This flight from Palma de Mallorca to Liverpool (10 Jun) experienced minor turbulence when landing due to the strong winds at Liverpool Airport. The crew followed Air Traffic Control’s instructions and circled for a short period before landing normally.”
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