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Storms cause disruption at Stansted Airport

@omaruk Crowds at Stansted Airport@omaruk
Many passengers spent the night at the Essex airport

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Stansted Airport after storms caused flight delays and cancellations.

Photographs showed people sleeping on the floor and luggage carousels on Friday, and long queues remain at check-in desks.

A spokesman for the airport said it was "open and operating today". Further delays have been reported.

Passengers have been advised to check ahead because of "knock-on effects".

Many spent the night at the airport and took to social media to vent their frustration, with some calling it "an absolute disgrace", "pure chaos" and "incompetence".

Operator Ryanair said storms on Friday night meant it was "forced to cancel a number of flights".

A spokesman said: "The knock-on effect of this and ATC (air traffic control) staff shortages has caused further disruptions today (28 July) including delays and cancellations."

Manda Banerji Stansted AirportManda Banerji
Passengers slept where they could

Passenger Joe Allen, who was trying to fly to Berlin with Ryanair, said he was supposed to leave at 19:00 on Friday.

Passengers had boarded the flight but "missed their slot", so were told to get off and go back to the airport, he said. The flight was later cancelled.

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Ollie Horn Queues at Stansted AirportOllie Horn
Passenger Ollie Horn was among the crowds waiting for their baggage at about 01:00 on Saturday

Ryanair has apologised to its customers in a statement to the BBC and said those affected by the disruption - which was "entirely beyond our control" - were being "advised of their options".

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Stansted Airport said: "The queues in the terminal were predominately at airline ticket desks with passengers who decided not to go home but stay and try and re-book after their flights were cancelled the previous evening.

"Those queues have gone down quite considerably and contained within the check-in areas."

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Durka Dougall Queues at Stansted AirportDurka Dougall
Passenger Durka Dougall described the scene at 04:00 on Saturday as "impressive chaos"
Check-in information board
The check-in boards on Saturday were telling many passengers to "please wait" for flight information