Hundreds of British holidaymakers are stranded on the storm-hit Greek island of Skiathos after their flights were cancelled.
Jet2, which normally operates many flights between the UK and Skiathos, has cancelled all its Tuesday and Wednesday services.
One Jet2 aircraft, flying from London Stansted to the island on Monday, was initially diverted to the Greek capital, Athens.
The plane made a second attempt to reach Skiathos on Tuesday, but instead diverted to Thessaloniki, where passengers and flight crew were accommodated overnight. The aircraft will return to the UK today.
Further Jet2 flights from Manchester, Leeds Bradford and London Stansted have been grounded. A spokesperson for Jet2 and Jet2 Holidays said: “We are aware of the weather conditions affecting Skiathos, and we are closely monitoring the situation with our customers’ best interests in mind.
“As a result of the conditions, which are completely outside our control, we took the decision to cancel all flights that were due to depart to Skiathos yesterday and today (five flights in total).
“We are contacting all affected customers and they will of course receive a full refund.
“We are continuing to closely monitor the situation on the island and have been in touch with customers in resort by SMS to advise them of the situation, and to ask them to follow the advice of the local authorities as well as their hoteliers.
“In addition, our in-resort teams are working tirelessly to look after customers despite infrastructure challenges caused by the weather. We will ensure that we fly all of our customers home once conditions allow.
“We recognise that this is an extremely difficult and unpleasant experience for our customers, and we of course are extremely sorry to hear this. Our absolute focus is on doing everything we can to look after everyone.”
Many other flights have been cancelled, including Ryanair links. The airline is warning of “some potential delays to/from Greece” due to thunderstorms.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “We regret any inconvenience caused to passengers by these thunderstorms which are outside of Ryanair’s control and affect all airlines operating to/from Greece.”
Other airlines have diverted Skiathos flights to Athens and to Kavala in northern Greece.
