Storm Isha, which was set to batter “everybody” in the United Kingdom, as per forecasters, did just that. However, the impact was not limited to the ground in the UK and Ireland, whose weather agencies had issued a number of warnings ahead of the storm, but also the skies.
UK flights diverted to Germany and France
Thousands of people in the UK and parts of Ireland were placed under warnings for the storm which wreaked havoc bringing heavy rains and strong winds of up to 159 km/h. Notably, some parts of the UK witnessed their strongest winds in 10 to 20 years.
Images and videos from airports in the UK and Ireland showed chaos as many flights were cancelled, including more than 160 flights from Dublin Airport. Additionally, clips show some planes struggling to land or shaking violently before ultimately landing at London airports.
This led to chaos as some passengers were taken to the wrong destinations, and others were taken to a whole other country, which ultimately led them to spend the night on terminal floors.
Flights heading to Bristol, London and Dublin were diverted to Paris, while a plane which was supposed to land in Edinburgh ended up in the German city of Cologne.
Since some of these flights were on domestic routes, the passengers were travelling without a passport and could not pass through immigration now that they were in another country.
Speaking about his experience, Luke Bromage-Henry, whose flight was supposed to land in London from Jersey, but ended up in Paris, said they sat on the runway for several hours. “Worst trip to Paris ever,” he told the BBC.
“I slept for about two hours underneath some chairs in the transfer terminal,” said Bromage-Henry, who spent the night in the terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
What about Ireland?
Ryanair, an Irish carrier was particularly affected since its base is Dublin where a whopping 166 flights to and from the airport were cancelled, on Sunday, according to Kevin Cullinane, group head of communications at Dublin Airport, reported CNN.
The airport also diverted 36 flights and saw 34 go-arounds, which is when a plane abandons landing mid-process and decides to “go around” for another try.
Ryanair flights from the Spanish cities of Tenerife and Seville headed for Edinburgh, ended up in Germany’s Cologne. Passengers on another Ryanair flight from Budapest to London flew back to Hungary after several attempts to land and before ultimately giving up.
Meanwhile, a Ryanair flight from Lanzarote to Dublin made it to the Irish capital before turning around and was diverted to Bordeaux, France, without attempting to land.
Another flight by the Irish carrier from Manchester to Dublin which is typically a 30-minute route turned into a two-and-a-half hour one after it made a go-around and was diverted to Paris.
A separate plane on the same route went back and forth between the UK and Ireland for over three hours before it landed in Liverpool, around 50 kilometres from the departure airport.
Two killed due to Storm Isha
At least two people were killed in storm-related incidents on Monday (Jan 22), as per media reports. A man in Scotland died after the car he was in was hit by a tree, and another man in Northern Ireland passed away after a tree fell on his car.
Isha also left thousands without power in several parts of the UK, as the country braces for another storm, on Tuesday (Jan 23) named Storm Jocelyn, which is expected to bring heavy rains and possible flooding.
(With inputs from agencies)
