Thousands of passengers hoping to fly from Heathrow have found themselves looking for alternative plans today, after a fire at a nearby electrical substation caused all flights to be grounded.
Hotels in and around Heathrow have found themselves overwhelmed, with reports of room prices 'tripling' since the news broke. Passengers have criticised hotels for 'profiting off misfortune', while airlines such as Ryanair have attempted to compensate for the cancellations by providing additional flights from other London airports.
Would-be passengers congregated outside airport hotels this morning, with one woman revealing she may now miss her cousin's wedding. The woman, who did not want to be named, said: "I was meant to be flying to Cape Town for my cousin's wedding but my flight has been cancelled. It's on Sunday so I'm trying to get a flight for first thing tomorrow - but everything's booked up and it's all so expensive."
She added: "And to make things worse, I'm stranded here as all the hotels are full. I've been along all the ones on this road and they can't take me. I can't go back to Manchester as I need to be here for any possible flights. I just feel really overwhelmed. It's no one's fault but it's difficult for those of us affected. I'm just at a loss."
Rita Lane, 59, was hoping to fly home to California early this morning - but now has to wait until Monday. This is the second time she has been left stranded by cancelled flights at Heathrow.
Mrs Lane said: "We actually didn't get notified by our airline until much later. My husband, who is in San Diego, texted me this morning to tell me. That's how I found out. We've rebooked our flight but Monday was the soonest we could make it. This is actually the second time this has happened to me in London. I was here years ago and all flights got grounded by an electrical or technical fault."
Mrs Lane is trying to make the most of things - and is considering the delay an "extended holiday". She said: "There's not much we can do so we're extending the holiday. We're off to Windsor Castle now."
David and Lucia Borradaile are also staying as positive as possible. Mr Borradaile, 79, said: "In earlier years we probably would have flipped our lids. But now we've got time on our hands. You have to expect these sort of things."
The married couple, from Devon, had an early flight to Oslo, Norway for a skiing holiday - and so had booked into a hotel for the night before. But when they made it into the lobby at 4:30am, they were told the airport had been closed.
Mr Borradaile said: "We thought it was an April Fool's prank at first." Mrs Borradaile, 67, added: "There was a lot going on and we're not very quick on our phones, but we've managed to book from Gatwick. However, the flight isn't until later this evening so we've got some time to kill making it over there."
Wilma Muzvidzwa, 48, from Zimbabwe, was on a work trip in London and is trying to get home. She's managed to book a new flight - this time from Stansted - but is worried about all the extra expenses.
She said: "I've been here on business and I'm trying to get home to Zimbabwe. I got a text at around 7am this morning about the flight being cancelled - and at first I thought it was a scam. But then I checked my emails and I realised. I panicked then. I wanted to get home."
She added: "But I've managed to book another flight from Stansted for later today. But I've paid for this hotel to be near to Heathrow - and now I need to pay to get to Stansted. It's just all the extra costs that concern me."
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