As the warnings rolled out about Storm Eunice this week my plans to travel to Birmingham started to look a bit more shaky.
Three of us were set to fly out from Dublin Airport at 10.15am with Ryanair, a 40 minute flight across the Irish Sea.
Met Eireann’s warnings indicated that the worst of the winds were likely to hit in the morning, which made the chances of all cancellation all the more likely.
But after travelling to the airport in calm conditions and boarding the plane on time, it seemed we might not be affected.
The take off was rocky, but nothing too frightening, and once we were up over the clouds it all seemed fine.
It’s only 40 minutes to Birmingham and it felt like less when the pilot alerted the cabin that we were making our descent.
It gradually became rocky as we started to come beneath the clouds, the plane bouncing from side to side rather violently.
While many were visibly nervous, a two-year-old sitting near me, who was on her second ever flight according to her Mam, excitedly looked out the window and remarked it was “very wibbly wobbly”.
So wibbly wobbly that the pilot aborted the landing and informed us we’d circle around a try again.
After a few minutes circling the sky it was clear the plane was lifting higher and maybe we’d be heading somewhere else.
Where though? Liverpool? Manchester? Both seemed like options but alas the pilot eventually let us know we’d be off to Prestwick.
It’s fair to say not many people know where that is, I and the passengers around me certainly didn’t, it soon became clear it’s in Glasgow - literally a different country.
A 35 minute journey followed and we touched down in the quiet Scottish airport, many just happy to be out of the skies.
Ryanair gave options, stay onboard in the hope of getting back to Birmingham or get off and get a bus which they said would take “eight or nine hours”.
Waiting seemed like the right option until the pilot informed passengers it was “very likely” the plane would head back to Dublin, with the chances of a Birmingham return minimal.
That saw a pretty mass exodus as people headed out to wait for this Ryanair provided bus.
Over two hours later it finally arrived and tired passengers filtered on, with a five hour journey ahead of us.
It was at this time someone spotted that our flight had just landed back in Birmingham, making the trip that bit more depressing - especially given the outlook the pilot gave as we disembarked.
Ryanair offered their apologies by text and email for something, that in their defence, was not within their control, but it didn’t make it much better for those facing a trip across the UK.
