Tens of thousands of travellers have woken up where they did not expect to be after hundreds of cancellations of planes, trains and ferries.
They include a planeload of passengers from Edinburgh to Bristol who are currently in Paris – some of them sleeping in the airport terminal because French immigration officials would not let them access hotels without passports.
On Monday, millions of commuters across the UK faced rush-hour chaos on the railways, high seas and in the air as the disruption caused by Storm Isha continued.
These are the main issues in the latest bout of travel chaos.
What were the key problems on Sunday?
Flights were spectacularly disrupted, causing stress and upset for thousands of passengers. There were hundreds of cancellations at UK airports, and dozens of diversions of incoming planes – with Ryanair passengers on what is normally a half-hour hop from Manchester to Dublin ending up in Beauvais in northern France.
An easyJet domestic flight from Edinburgh to Bristol diverting to Paris. That was a big problem for the passengers who were not carrying passports – or national ID cards – because they couldn’t leave the terminal and be placed in a hotel. An easyJet spokesperson said: “Some customers not carrying a passport have been required by the French authorities to remain in the airport and so we are working with the airport to make them as comfortable as possible.
“While the circumstances are outside of our control, we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused as a result of the weather.”
David Gibbs, an easyJet passenger on a Zurich-London Gatwick flight that diverted to Paris CDG, said: “We tried to land at Gatwick itwice. We ended up in Paris CDG at 1am, and we promised hotels and food vouchers by easyJet.
“I can safely say along with many others we have not been given anything. As we disembarked and ended up at the check in desks we found ground crew with no leadership or communication to hundreds of diverted passengers.
“We were giving new boarding passes on the app but these would not work and allow us to reach after airside security and we had to force our way back to the check in desks to get new printed passes.”
The Independent has asked easyJet for a response to Mr Gibbs’ claims.
What about the railways?
In terms of the sheer number of travellers affected, rail passengers were worst…
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