Flights to and from Ireland and Scotland are being affected as the storm batters the UK
A flight map showing a Ryanair flight to Glasgow diverted to Manchester due to the storm(Image: Flightradar24)
Several flights in and out of Manchester Airport have been cancelled tonight as Storm Amy hits the UK and Ireland.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus services to Dublin and Belfast have been scrapped as Ireland is battered by ‘severe and damaging gusts’ and heavy downpours. Passengers are also facing long delays on incoming and outgoing flights to Belfast and Cork.
Stockport comic Jason Manford was among the passengers affected. He told fans in Belfast that his show at Ulster Hall tonight is cancelled after his flight was diverted due to the storm.
The statement read: “Due to extreme weather conditions caused by Storm Amy, the British Airways plane that Jason Manford was flying on this afternoon could not land in Belfast and was rerouted to Manchester. This unfortunately means that Jason’s show tonight has been cancelled.
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“Please hold onto your tickets and you will be contacted next week with the date for the rescheduled show. On behalf of Jason, we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
A number of flights to and from Scotland have also been cancelled, including Loganair flights from Manchester to Inverness and Aberdeen. Meanwhile a number of other flights headed for Ireland and Scotland have been forced to divert to Manchester due to the wild weather.
They included Ryanair jet out of Bristol that was forced to turn back at about 5pm. At about 8.30pm flight monitoring services also reported a Ryanair flight from Pisa to Glasgow was also diverted to Manchester after making two failed attempts to land at Prestwick airport.
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Passengers caught up in the disruption shared their frustrations on social media. Writing on X Dean Evans said: “Ryanair could you please answer a question for me? We have been sat on one of your planes for over 5 1/2hrs after being delayed for an hour and now diverted to Manchester after 2 attempts of landing at Dublin.”
Iain Darby posted: “7 hours after boarding and 2 and a half hours after diverting back to land in Manchester the flight is, now, officially cancelled!”
Earlier today Manchester Airport urged passengers to ‘take extra care’ when travelling to the airport. In a statement the airport said: “Severe weather is forecast across parts of the UK this weekend.
“While Manchester Airport is operating as normal, we advise all customers travelling to the airport to take extra care and check local travel updates before setting off.”