Gatwick drones: As it happened
Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
One family were jetting off for a winter sunshine holiday, so were caught out badly by the disruption.
Quote MessageWe are now in a hotel in Heathrow after being sat outside in the cold waiting for a coach transfer at 13:30 in the freezing cold with no coats (we are going on holiday to the Maldives) with my family - 16 of us in total including two babies.
Megan Rayner
Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
One passenger has decided England's second city is a better place to be right now.
Quote MessageStaying in Birmingham airport for flight to Jersey tomorrow instead. Our airline offered to bus us to Gatwick but seeing the chaos there staying in Birmingham seemed more sensible."
Janine Harland
An army spokesman said specialist equipment is being deployed at Gatwick Airport.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the perpetrators will be caught, and face a prison sentence.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has described the situation at Gatwick as a "very serious ongoing incident in which substantial drones have been used to bring about the temporary closure of a major international airport".
He added: "The people who were involved should face the maximum possible custodial sentence for the damage they have done."
Image source, Getty ImagesBob Dale
BBC Live reporter
Drone pilot David Walker has contacted the BBC to highlight what he sees as the problem with drone training in the UK.
Quote MessageThe industry doesn't help itself as the cost for flying courses and certification can be as much as £1,000 for just three days training. Anyone who gets a £50 quad is not going to want to pay £1,000 to fly it."
David Walker, Drone pilot
Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
The body which represents air traffic controllers has released a statement, calling for tougher regulations on drone flying.
It says its previous warnings have been dismissed, and extra measures to be brought in.
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A passenger due to fly at the weekend says she's had some worrying news about her travel insurance.
Laura has been at Gatwick since 06:30 GMT and says her patience is wearing thin.
Quote MessageI called my travel insurance provider and they stated that they would not be able to help me as drones are not written in their Policy Booklet as a reason for a flight being suspended. They advised that I would have to take the issue up with Gatwick Airport."
Blanchard Campbell
Quote MessageThe overall feeling now is that we are being held to ransom. Local hotel prices are rocketing and other flight options are selling out or are becoming ridiculously inflated as time goes on. Communication is shambolic."
Laura Burchell
The Prime Minister's spokesman said a cross-Whitehall meeting of officials is taking place in response to the drone incident.
The meeting of officials, but not ministers, is taking place in the Cabinet Office and began at 15:00, the spokesman said.
Officials from the Department for Transport, Home Office, the police and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat are among those involved in the meeting.
Image source, Ani Kochiashvili/via REUTERSLike easyJet, British Airways has also released a statement for its customers caught up in the disruption at Gatwick.
The statement reads: “We take the safety of our customers and crew extremely seriously, and like most airlines at Gatwick Airport, we have cancelled a number of flights today.
“Our airport teams are working to minimise the disruption for our customers at what we know is a very important time of year.
“We are offering customers travelling to or from Gatwick today and tomorrow a range of re-book and refund options, and encouraging them to check ba.com for the latest information about their flight before they leave home.”
The Airline says it has now given out:
Tens of thousands of passengers are affected by "deliberate" disruption at the airport.
Read MoreDefence Secretary Gavin Williamson has said the armed forces are "always" ready to help the police and will do everything they can to ensure Gatwick opens again as soon as possible.
"Sussex Police have requested assistance and support from the armed forces and we will be deploying the armed forces to give them the help that they need to be able to deal with the situation of the drones at Gatwick Airport," Mr Williamson said.
"It goes to demonstrate how our armed forces are always there ready to support the civilian authorities."
When asked how the armed forces would assist, Mr Williamson responded: "Sadly at this moment it's not something we can actually reveal but the armed forces have a range of unique capabilities and this isn't something we would usually deploy but we are there to assist and do everything we can so that they are in a position to open the airport at the earliest opportunity."
Image source, PAEasyJet has released a statement for its customers regarding the delays at Gatwick.
The statement reads: "We advise all customers flying to and from London Gatwick today not travel to the airport if they are on flights which have been cancelled.
"Customers can check the status of their flight on our Flight Tracker www.easyjet.com/en/flight-tracker or via the app.
"We are making every effort to get people to their destination at this important time of the year.
"Customers on cancelled flights today, will be entitled to a free of charge transfer to an alternative flight and hotel accommodation if required.
"We will also reimburse any reasonable expenses incurred by passengers who arrange their own comparable alternative transport.
"Whilst the situation is outside of our control we would like to apologise to passengers for the inconvenience caused by the diversions and resultant delays and cancellations.
"The safety of its passengers and crew is the airline's highest priority."
Image source, Getty ImagesJonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent
Police have made a formal request to the MoD for military assistance to deal with the Gatwick incident .
A defence source would not go into any detail of what that support would entail.
BBC Radio 5 live
Image source, Hope Lauren EderHope Lauren Eder spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live this morning from Gatwick Airport - she and her husband were waiting to fly to New York on honeymoon.
5 Live spoke to her again this afternoon - and the couple had just arrived at Heathrow.
They decided to buy new tickets to make sure they’d get to the US today.
Hope told Nihal Arthanayake: “It wasn’t cheap... It was a really hard decision, but we just thought ‘how long can we wait around?’ We just had to make it and not look back, and that’s what we’ve done.
“It just makes me think, if it can cause this much disruption, maybe they need to rethink their laws on flying drones. Maybe people should have licences.”
The BBC's Defence Correspondent Jonathan Beale has confirmed the army has been called in to deal with the drone situation.
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Several flights are diverted to Cardiff after Gatwick Airport was shut down by drones flying overhead.
Read MoreThis family were caught up in the drama when the drone was first spotted.
Quote MessageMy family and I were flying from Faro to Gatwick last night on Easyjet at roughly 21:00 but had to emergency land in Bordeaux. We have been at the airport for 15 hours."
Emily Kempton
This passenger is concerned about the extra costs on top of their lost flights.
Quote MessageI booked long-term parking at Montpellier. Can I get a refund of this €60? I doubt it. Many thanks to the selfish persons who created this disruption."
Christopher Spencer
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Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter
Paul Fowler isn't flying, but was at the airport working on a promotional event for an airline.
He sent us this picture of a queue of passengers, which he describes as "never ending".
Image source, Paul FowlerQuote MessageWe called things to a halt when the passenger mood changed. It's not a good place to be right now and more people are still turning up."
Paul Fowler
Image source, Paul FowlerAdam Nixon heard the news breaking last night, but still took his chances.
Quote MessageFive am start, what I can only describe as complete pandemonium at Gatwick North Terminal... babies crying, folks sitting in the most unusual of positions, staff stressed to the brim.
Adam Nixon
This family have had a dreadful start to what should have been a dream Christmas holiday.
Quote MessageArrived at Gatwick at 04:00 this morning for a trip of a lifetime to see Santa in Lapland with our two young daughters.
Russell Gilbert