Seher Asaf
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

Thousands of passengers today faced disruption at - or while trying to reach - UK airports when an air traffic control glitch led to more than 100 flights being delayed and cancelled.

A "technical issue" at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) centre in southern England led to flights being temporarily suspended at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Despite the issue being resolved in 20 minutes, according to NATS, hours of chaos ensued. Throughout this afternoon and evening, we've heard from frustrated passengers across the country.

One, 35-year-old John Carr, was travelling to Norway for his brother's wedding when his flight was cancelled. He and a friend said there was "no warning" from the airport or their airline that it was being cancelled, describing the situation as "rubbish".

Others were trying to stay upbeat. David and his family, who were travelling from Crete to Birmingham but had their EasyJet plane diverted to Paris, said everyone on board was "in good spirits".

Apologising to those affected, NATS said it was working with airlines to clear the backlog. A spokesperson subsequently told the BBC the issue was a radar one, and there was no evidence to suggest this was cyber-related.

As things stands, 67 departures and 55 arrivals are known to have been cancelled across UK airports, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

We're going to pause our live coverage there, but we'll keep an eye on airport boards across the country and be back should there be any major developments to bring you. For now, here's some other BBC content to sink your teeth into:

• Here's our news story on the day's events: Flight disruption after major UK air traffic outage
• And here's a handy explainer: What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?

Greg McKenzie
News correspondent

A spokesperson for the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has just shared more details about the potential cause of today's air traffic disruption.

They tell the BBC it was a radar-related issue, which was resolved by quickly switching to the back-up system. During this time, the spokesperson says, they reduced traffic to ensure safety.

There is no evidence that this was cyber related, they add.

Some images have emerged from London's Gatwick and Heathrow, which were among the UK airports affected by today's air traffic control issue.

Despite the error being resolved and flights resuming across the country, passengers were warned to expect delays and, in some cases, cancellations.

We've since learnt that 122 flights have been cancelled, according to the latest figures, which include 67 departures across all UK airports and 55 arrivals.

Here are those images which show the scenes that unfolded:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

John Carr, 35, from Stourbridge, is the best man at his brother's wedding in Norway and was on his way there with a group of friends when their flight was cancelled.

"We’ve got the wedding rehearsal to do. It’s quite stressful," he tells the PA news agency.

His friend James Hedges, also from Stourbridge, says: “We were in the departures lounge, and we were literally sitting down having a burger when it came up on the [screen].

"Our flight was still showing as if it was leaving, and they were waiting to give us a gate and said that would be given at 16:45pm. When that time came around, it then switched to cancelled."

He adds there was "no warning" from the airport or the airline that it was cancelled, describing the siuation as "rubbish". "There’s nothing we can do," he adds.

Hedges says they are unsure about what to do for accommodation tonight if they cannot get another flight: "We have put our cars in special car compounds for the next six days."

Simon Browning
Transport correspondent

Image source, EPA

It's been a difficult day for the aviation and airline industry. The temporary outage at NATS - the National Air Traffic Services - lasted only 20 minutes but it has caused major disruption.

NATS effectively manages the motorways of the sky, monitoring where our flights go around the UK.

Safety is seriously compromised when those systems go down, prompting airlines to ground, delay or divert flights.

NATS's system was back online within 20 minutes but the impact is substantial. The aviation sector and airlines operate on such tiny margins and any disruption or delay can have a huge knock-on effect.

The data is still coming through but, as of 19:30 BST, 122 flights have been cancelled so far, including 67 departures across all UK airports and 55 arrivals.

Plenty of passengers have had their flights diverted which now means planes, passengers and crews are all in the wrong place.

To make matters worse, this comes at a time when - globally - it's the busiest time for travel.

Simon Browning
Transport correspondent

Latest figures from aviation analytics firm Cirium show 122 flights to and from the UK have been cancelled so far today.

As of 19:30 BST, 67 departures and 55 arrivals have been cancelled across all UK airports.

A number of flights were also diverted earlier today.

London Heathrow has seen the highest number of cancellations so far - 24 departures and 14 arrivals - Cirium says.

Michael Race
Business reporter

NATS - National Air Traffic Services - is the main provider of air traffic control services to airports in the UK.

According to its website, it handles more than 2.5 million flights and 250 million passengers in a typical year.

One of its main roles is to operate control centres to manage UK airspace.

This is not the first time NATS has been in the news. Almost two years ago, during the annual summer getaway, more than 2,000 flights were cancelled, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers delayed or stranded after a system for automatically processing flight plans failed.

As a reminder, we don't yet know what has caused the technical fault this time around.

Let's bring you the latest from the Department for Transport now.

In a statement, a spokesperson says:

"While passengers should continue to check with individual airports for advice, NATS have confirmed their systems are now fully operational and flights are returning to normal.

"We are working closely with NATS to understand the cause of the technical issue and the implications for the resilience systems in place."

They add that Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander does not have any control over NATS.

Kris Bramwell
BBC News

Image source, Robin Ilott

Robin Ilott, 62, from Waterlooville in Hampshire, says he's faced a two-hour and 20 minute delay.

Sitting on the tarmac at Heathrow, he tells me "the pilots are as frustrated as everyone else".

But he adds: "It's better safe than sorry, you don’t want to get up there and find that there’s planes everywhere.”

Bernadette McCague
BBC News

David and his family are stuck on an EasyJet plane in Paris - having supposed to be in Birmingham.

They were travelling from Crete to Birmingham, where their car's parked, before making the onward journey home to Cardiff.

"When the pilot advised that we were unable to enter UK airspace due to a technical problem, we then got diverted to Paris," he tells me - adding that the plane circled for about 30 to 45 minutes before being told to land.

Despite the diversion, David says "everyone is in good spirits".

"There are lots of children on board who are taking it in their stride!"

We earlier spoke to Boris Redfern, who is on the tarmac at Heathrow, waiting for his delayed BA flight to Pisa to set off:

Earlier, Ryanair called for the boss of NATS - National Air Traffic Services - to resign over today's technical issue, which led to flights being suspended across the UK and in some cases cancelled.

We're now hearing from Ed Davey, leader of the Lib Dems, who echoes Ryanair's frustration.

"It is utterly unacceptable that after a major disruption just two years ago, air traffic control has once again been hit by a technical fault," he says.

"With thousands of families preparing to go on a well earned break, this just isn't good enough."

Davey also calls on the government to "launch an urgent investigation to ensure the system is fit for purpose".

"The public deserve to have full confidence in such a vital piece of national infrastructure," he says.

Image source, PA Media

Ben King
Business reporter

I've just had this statement through from aviation analytics firm Cirium, which says the data is accurate as of 17:30 BST but is likely to change:

"Today, 30 July 2025, has seen a total of 45 departures cancelled so far, across all UK airports.

"There has also been a total of 35 arrivals cancelled so far, across all UK airports.

"London Heathrow has seen the highest number of cancellations so far, with a total of 16 departures and seven arrivals so far.

"There were also more than 16 flights en route to London Heathrow that had to be diverted to other airports."

Sam Hancock
Live page editor

Whether you're at a UK airport, or just interested in the latest travel news, here's everything we know about this afternoon's air traffic control issues...

• A "technical issue" was detected at the NATS Swanwick air traffic control centre in Southampton, on the south coast of England
• Airports across the country suspended departures - including at Gatwick, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Luton
• NATS soon reported the issue had been resolved - and that it was working with airports and airlines to reduce disruption
• But despite the majority of airports resuming flights, many are warning of delays
• Passengers across the board are being told to check with their airlines before attempting to fly - British Airways says the issue affected the "vast majority" of its flights
• We've also been hearing from people stuck on planes: Tom Joyner - one of our (off-duty) reporters on his way to Budapest - has been on the tarmac at Gatwick for more than two hours, while Kirk Ryan and his family were delayed at Liverpool, but have since been told their Jet2 flight to Turkey's ready to depart

And a reminder of what we don't yet know:

• What caused the issue - or indeed what the issue actually was
• How many flights, in total, have been delayed or cancelled

Air traffic control expert Doug Maclean, formerly a senior manager with NATS, tells Radio Scotland's Drivetime the cause of the glitch has not been revealed - which is "very disappointing to put it mildly".

"The traffic restrictions are being lifted," he adds. "But you can't just stop and start air traffic control and flights from all of the UK airports."

Kris Bramwell
BBC News

Asha, 18, from Manchester, is currently "stuck" on the tarmac at the city's airport.

Her EasyJet flight is "still delayed" and her "first holiday interrailing [has] gone wrong!"

She says her 15:10 flight to Amsterdam took off and was in the air for 50 minutes before turning around.

Asha says some people on her flight "now want to get off the plane" and she does not know when she will take off again.

She is "hoping for some free food" to make up for the disruption.

Michael McBride
BBC News NI

Passengers travelling from Belfast this evening have been advised they may face some disruption.

However, the impact appears to be affecting those travelling from George Best Belfast City Airport more than those flying through Belfast International.

A spokesperson for Belfast City Airport confirmed that while the technical problems have now been resolved, knock-on effects could still impact flights across the UK.

"Due to earlier air traffic control issues affecting the London area, which have now been resolved, there may be disruption to flights due to depart and arrive across the UK this evening," they said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Belfast International Airport reported "minimal impact" this evening, telling BBC News NI that flights continue to operate as normal.

Kris Bramwell
BBC News

Louise Robinson has been in touch after her flight from Venice to London was diverted to Geneva.

She says she has been sitting on the tarmac for about 35 minutes.

"Myself and my children were on a flight from Venice to [London Heathrow] which left Venice at 16.05," she says.

"A short time into our journey the captain announced that we were being held in a holding pattern as French airspace had been closed to all air traffic due to [a] London radar being down.

"After flying in the holding pattern for a while we were told we might have to land in Switzerland."

Robinson says the pilot has told them they have the "all clear" to take off again for London in about 45 minutes - although that might change with the flight backlog.

Tom Joyner
Live reporter

After more than two hours at a standstill - see my earlier post here - my EasyJet flight from London Gatwick is still waiting for clearance to take off.

The captain says the issue is now there are not enough ground crew at Gatwick to deal with the build-up of aircraft.

But in a few minutes, he tells us, we’re expected to get the green light.

"Things are chopping and changing quite a lot," he says. "Hopefully we’ll get going shortly."

It’s still two hours flight time from here to Budapest, but at least we’ll get there tonight.

Edinburgh Airport says flights there resumed just before 17:00 BST, with an Edinburgh to Cologne flight.

A spokesperson adds that 10 flights had their departures suspended during the air traffic control issues this afternoon.