Ryanair holidaymakers left furious over storm-hit journey

Passengers were put onto a ferry from Lanzarote to Fuerteventura and boarded another to Gran Canaria the following day

A couple say they were treated "absolutely atrociously" by Ryanair after a flight to the Canary Islands turned into a 36-hour odyssey.

Barry and Emma Etherington flew from Newcastle to Gran Canaria on Sunday, which should take less than five hours.

However, due to a storm they were redirected to Lanzarote and then put on two ferries before finally making it to the Spanish island on Monday night.

Ryanair apologised and said events were "entirely beyond" its control.

The couple, from Sunniside, Gateshead, left Newcastle Airport at 06:50 BST on Sunday.

Barry and Emma Etherington from Gateshead have criticised Ryanair for their lack of communication

They should have touched down at lunchtime but due to poor weather conditions, and after repeated attempts to land, their flight was redirected to Lanzarote.

"A lot of people were really worried," Mrs Etherington said.

She said passengers were then off-loaded and "left to find our own way around".

Soaked through

After locating a Ryanair stand at the airport, they were put onto buses and taken to a port where they stood in "the pouring rain" while waiting to board a ferry to Fuerteventura.

Once there, they spent the night in a hotel before boarding a second ferry to Gran Canaria where they arrived on Monday evening.

Mrs Etherington criticised the airline's lack of communication and believed it should have cancelled the original flight if it knew weather would disrupt it.

Mrs Etherington says some passengers struggled with luggage as they boarded ferries

"Throughout all of this the big bugbear has been we have had no communication from Ryanair whatsoever," she said.

"I'm just really disappointed- not just for Barry and me but for all of them - there were so many vulnerable people on that flight.

"The babies' pushchairs were absolutely soaking wet because we had to stand in the ferry port - some people's clothes in their suitcases are wet through because the cases got so wet.

"We would certainly never, ever fly with them again."

A spokesperson for the airline said "a small number" of flights on Sunday to and from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, were cancelled due to the weather conditions and runway lighting failure, which were "entirely beyond Ryanair's control".

"Now that the weather has improved, rescue flights have been arranged," they said.

"We sincerely apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these weather disruptions."