London Luton Airport resumes flights after runway repairs

Aerial footage showed a large rectangular area on the surface being examined by airport staff

Flights have resumed at London Luton Airport following repairs after high temperatures lifted a small section of the runway.

The airport said departing flights resumed at 17:40 BST, with inbound resuming 15 minutes later.

Easyjet and Ryanair both diverted some of their arrivals to other airports.

The damage occurred as the Met Office issued a red extreme heat warning in much of England, with temperatures set to hit 41C (106F) on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, an airport spokesperson said flights had been temporarily suspended "to allow for an essential runway repair after high surface temperatures caused a small section to lift".

Easyjet said three inbound flights to Luton had been diverted to nearby airports, and flights to and from Belfast, Milan and Palma due to fly were "unfortunately now unable to operate".

Ryanair said it had not cancelled any flights from the airport but had diverted a small number of inbound flights to Stansted.

Several flights were delayed and some cancelled at Luton Airport

Pictures on social media showed a packed terminal as passengers waited for their flights to resume.

Alison Cybe, 39, from Brighton, was caught up in the delays.

She had been due to fly to Naples at 15.15 BST but was informed her flight was delayed due to the "melted" runway.

Talking from the departure lounge, she said: "It's hot, but the number of people in the departure area makes it even hotter.

"People are just feeling pretty fed-up. A lot have been making the best of it, but you can tell we are tired."

• Live updates: Tuesday's heatwave in the East of England

According to the Met Office, temperatures in Luton hit a high of 35C (95F) between 14:00 and 16:00 BST.