Marina and her partner were on Spanish airline Vueling’s 7.40pm flight from Barcelona to Gatwick on Sunday evening, returning home to London after a holiday.
“After a 30-minute delay at Barcelona airport due to ‘weather conditions at the destination’, our flight finally took off for Gatwick at 8pm,” she said. “The pilot tried to land twice at Gatwick, but the conditions were too difficult. Everybody onboard was screaming and some people were having panic attacks.”
Marina, 32, was among various Britons who got in touch with the Guardian to share how they were affected by Storm Isha, which has been battering the UK and Ireland with gusts of up to 107mph since Sunday, causing widespread travel disruption and damage.
Airlines were forced to cancel, delay or reroute scores of flights across the UK on Sunday and Monday.
“We were told that they were going to wait 15 minutes and [if landing would still be impossible then] would try to land in Manchester,” Marina said. “After another hour of flying around above the storm, the pilot informed us that we were all on our way to Amsterdam,” she said.
“It was very scary. We were all very happy to land safely on the ground when we got to Amsterdam, and the pilot got a round of applause.”
But upon arrival at about 11.30pm, the passengers were told that Amsterdam airport was not giving the aircraft permission to unload and let people get off, Marina said.
“We were told that following a fuel refill we would fly back to Barcelona again. We waited for hours inside the plane, as the storm slowly approached the Netherlands. Some people without checked-in luggage managed to leave the aircraft. Eventually at 3.30am, everybody was asked to get off. At 4.30am we were told that the plane had gone back to Barcelona, without passengers but with all our checked luggage.”
As there were no planned Vueling flights to London from Amsterdam for several days, some people agreed to be put back on flights to Barcelona free of charge, Marina said, in the hope to then be dispatched to London again at the next opportunity.
Others decided to continue their journeys via train or find alternative flights.
“As it stands, we have no idea where our luggage is,” she said. “The poor ground staff in Amsterdam started their early day by needing to attend an angry crowd of 135 passengers who had been trying to get to London for over 10 hours. … A lot of people had connecting flights, which they missed, of course.”
Marina and her partner managed to book a hotel themselves, as they had to work on Monday morning.
“We slept for three hours and have been trying to work from the hotel lobby,” she said. “We bought new flight tickets for a 9pm flight tonight. We’re now getting the cost of the flights refunded, and will definitely try to claim back the other expenses. All very stressful.”
Thousands of people have also been left without power as Isha brought disruption to electricity networks across the UK and Ireland.
Michaela Saunders, who is 68 and lives in a farmhouse with her husband in the rural county of Haddingtonshire in south-east Scotland, said the storm left in its wake a real “danger to life” and a town-wide power cut since 10.30pm on Sunday.
“I think the danger is in rural areas, where you have a lot of overhead power cables, whereas in more built-up areas, they tend to be put through ducts,” she said. “So lines [in rural areas] come down on to roads. They get hit by flying debris.”
As one of several thousand properties in Scotland prone to power outages, Saunders said they had installed a generator to be prepared for situations like these, “a privilege not everyone can afford”.
“Estimated reconnection time is 10pm today, no guarantee though. The house is warm and comfortable and we have lights,” Saunders said, though she voiced concern for locals with health problems.
“Are they able to communicate with the medical services? Do they have mobile services that work? Fortunately, the weather is very mild. If a storm like this occurred during freezing, snowy conditions there would almost certainly be loss of life, as the majority of people don’t have a generator.”
Chris, a 42-year-old IT consultant from Brixton, south London, said his dog, Tonks, had saved him from getting hit by a falling piece of a tree, during a quick walk at about 7pm on Sunday evening.
“While we were out, there was a particularly strong gust of wind and a cracking noise overhead,” Chris said. “I thought nothing of it. Luckily, my dog is always alert to loud noises. She heard it, was scared and pulled me forward. When I looked back, a big tree branch, about 3 inches thick at the break, had crashed on to the pavement right where we were.
“A bit of a lucky escape. If it had cracked me on the head, it would have knocked me out.
“Despite her not being a rough collie, I’m going to have to rename my dog Lassie. She got a good handful of treats.”
A spokesperson for the Vueling airline said: “Vueling flight VY7828 to London Gatwick was diverted to Amsterdam Schiphol airport due to adverse weather conditions in London. Unfortunately, due to limitations to nighttime operations at Amsterdam airport and the lack of staff at the airport to assist flights diverted there due to the extreme weather, we were forced to disembark our passengers in Amsterdam.
“In addition, Vueling’s crew were about to exceed their maximum allowed flight duty period, which is a key element to guarantee safety on-board. This means they would not be able to operate further passenger flights at that time.
“We always prioritise our customers’ wellbeing, so we offered all of them hotel accommodation in Amsterdam and relocated them with flexible flight options on Monday and Tuesday from Barcelona, as we are unable to provide direct flights from Amsterdam to London Gatwick. We appreciate the frustration this will have caused our passengers and apologise for the inconvenience.”
