Children were left screaming in terror on a “horrendous” Ryanair flight that “bounced in the sky” after it was caught in a storm.
Eileen Felton and her husband Carl had enjoyed a sunny stay in Palma, Mallorca, and were flying back to their home in Liverpool on Saturday night.
But their trip back into the Liverpool John Lennon Airport was anything but smooth sailing and was delayed after a storm struck Merseyside.
Temperatures peaked at 28C in the region in the day but were brought to an abrupt end when dark storm clouds gathered around 6pm.
The Met Office upgraded its weather warning from yellow to amber before torrential rain battered the flight.
As Merseyside faced thunder and lightning for hours, the flight was first delayed leaving the Spanish island, then landed two hours later than planned, after facing massive turbulence over Liverpool.
Eileen, from Runcorn described the conditions as "horrendous - the turbulence was the worst I've known.
The mum-of-two told the Liverpool 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 spokesperson for Ryanair 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."
