Kate Dodd was on the plane waiting to travel home with her husband and two small children, when passengers were told their plane would not be taking off because of security fears.

She told BBC Breakfast that all 240 passengers were taken to a hotel and have remained together overnight. She said they hope to be on the move by Friday but "the priority obviously is to wait until it's safe to fly. I think nobody wants to rush if it’s not a safe situation."

The decision to cancel flights has been described as "premature" by Egypt. Foreign Secretary Hammond said the government acted on the information it had. "We would have liked to have the luxury of a lot more time to think about it, look at it and discuss it, but we had British aircraft on the ground about to fly back to the UK and we had to take an immediate decision about what was in the best interests of the people on board," he said.  

Stranded holidaymaker Sarah Cotterill told the BBC that she had checked in to fly back to Gatwick on Wednesday evening when she learnt her flight was cancelled. 

"After spending about three hours at the airport we were bussed back to the hotel and that's where we are at the moment," she said. "This morning we have not seen or heard from anybody... All we know from Easyjet's website is that it's not likely [we'll fly] today."

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was asked what should change before flights from the UK to Sharm can resume. He told BBC Breakfast that aviation experts "will work out during the course of this morning exactly what is required to give them the level of assurance that they need". 

Image source, AFP

Travel operators have changed their flight plans to and from Sharm el-Sheikh. Here’s what we know so far:

Thomas Cook, external has cancelled its flight and holiday programme to Sharm el-Sheikh until 12 November

Thomson Airways, external along with First Choice, external, have cancelled all outbound flights to Sharm el-Sheikh up to and including 12 November

British Airways, external has postponed its Thursday flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh until Friday

EasyJet, external has cancelled all flights to and from the resort on Thursday and is keeping future flights "under review"

Monarch, external has cancelled all flights in and out of Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday

The Irish Aviation Authority, external said it had directed Irish airlines not to fly to or from the area until further notice

Mr Hammond said 19 flights were due to go out from the UK to the Sinai today, but have been cancelled. He said the government was working with the airlines and Egyptian authorities to put in place "short-term emergency measures" so that the holidaymakers stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh can get back safely. 

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has been on BBC Breakfast this morning. 

He has said he expects British tourists can be flown home from tomorrow.  

UK PM David Cameron is to chair an emergency Cobra committee meeting, while the transport secretary is expected to make a Commons statement on the latest situation. 

We'll bring you the latest as we get it.

It is estimated there are more than 20,000 British tourists in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Officials are working with airlines on special flights to bring people at the resort back to the UK as soon as possible. 

Good morning and welcome to our continuing coverage as the UK halts all flights between Britain and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. 

The decision came after intelligence suggested there was a "significant possibility" a bomb caused a Russian jet to crash there, killing all 224 people on board.