Aborted Gatwick landing was terrifying - passenger

Bethan Brain from Brighton said passengers had to sleep on the floor at Charles de Gaulle Airport

A plane passenger has described the "terrifying" experience of an aborted attempt to land at Gatwick Airport during Storm Isha.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Mark Perkins, from West Byfleet, Surrey, said that there was "zero visibility - with the plane being thrown up, down and sideways."

Strong winds and heavy rain from Storm Isha have caused widespread travel disruption and power outages across the UK.

Another passenger said many travellers were forced to sleep on the floor at Charles de Gaulle Airport after their flights were diverted.

Mr Perkins, who had been on a short trip to Malaga, told the BBC: "It wasn’t until we began our descent into Gatwick that it got really hairy.

"I was sitting in the window seat next to the wing and I couldn’t see the wing anymore, the visibility was that bad. I thought if I can’t see the wing then what can the pilot see?

"The plane started rattling and it felt like you were in one of those fairground simulators."

Mr Perkins said passengers only realised they were being diverted to land in France when they saw the Eiffel Tower out of the plane window.

Mr Perkins added that he and other passengers faced a four-hour wait at Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport before being put on a coach bound for a ferry to Dover.

Bethan Brain, 20, from Brighton, had been travelling back to Sussex after a trip to Switzerland

Other passengers were not as lucky in getting an alternative route home.

Bethan Brain, 20, is still stranded at Charles de Gaulle Airport after her flight home from Zurich was diverted and landed there at 01:30 local time (12:30 GMT).

"We got to around Gatwick and we were told that we were going to try and land. We got very close to landing then suddenly had to go back up and we did that two or three times.

"Honestly I’ve never heard a plane so quiet. Everyone was very scared."

Ms Brain said hotels were not available for everyone and many had to sleep on the floor in the airport.

"I paid to use the lounge upstairs so I could sit but I'm exhausted, I've been awake for more than 24 hours now."