by Marina and her partner were on the Spanish airline Vueling’s 7.40pm flight from Barcelona to Gatwick on Sunday afternoon, returning home to London after a holiday.
“After a 30 minute delay at Barcelona airport due to ‘destination weather conditions’, our flight finally made it to Gatwick at 8pm,” she said. “The pilot tried to land twice at Gatwick, but the conditions were too difficult. Everyone on board was screaming and some people were having panic attacks.”
Marina, 32, was among several Britons who contacted the Guardian to share how they had been affected by Storm Isha, which has been battering the UK and Ireland with gusts of up to 107mph since Sunday, which disrupted travel and extensive damage.
Airlines were forced to cancel, delay or delay scores of flights across the UK on Sunday and Monday.
“We were told they were going to wait 15 minutes and [if landing would still be impossible then] try to land in Manchester,” said Marina. “After another hour of flying above the storm, the pilot informed us that we were all on our way to Amsterdam,” she said.
“It was very scary. We were all happy to land safely on the ground when we got to Amsterdam, and the pilot got a round of applause.”
Related: UK Weather: Storm Jocelyn to follow Isha with stronger winds and heavy rain
But when they arrived at around 11.30pm, the passengers were told that the Amsterdam airport was not giving permission for the aircraft to unload and allow people to take off, Marina said.
“We were told we would fly back to Barcelona again after refuelling. We stayed for hours inside the plane, as the storm slowly approached the Netherlands. Some people who did not have registered baggage managed to leave the aircraft. Finally at 3.30am, everyone was asked to leave. At 4.30am we were told the plane had gone back to Barcelona, with no passengers but all our checked luggage.”
As there were no Vueling flights scheduled to London from Amsterdam for several days, some people agreed to be put back on flights to Barcelona for free, Marina said, in the hope that they would be put on to London again at the next opportunity.
Others decided to continue their journey by train or find other flights.
“As it is, we have no idea where our luggage is,” she said. “The team on a poor ground in Amsterdam started their day early when they had to deal with an angry crowd of 135 passengers trying to get to London for over 10 hours. … A lot of people had connecting flights, which they missed, of course.”
Marina and her partner managed to book a hotel themselves, as they had to go to work on Monday morning.
“We slept for three hours and we’re trying to work from the hotel lobby,” she said. “We bought new flight tickets for a 9pm flight tonight. We are now reimbursing the cost of the flights, and will certainly try to claim back the other costs. All very stressful.”
Thousands of people were also left without power as Isha disrupted electricity networks across the UK and Ireland.
Michaela Saunders, who is 68 and lives in a farmhouse with her husband in the rural county of Haddingtonshire in south-east Scotland, said the storm that followed left “life threatening” and a power cut across the town from 10.30pm. Sunday.
“I think the danger is in rural areas, where you have a lot of overhead power cables, but in more built-up areas, they tend to be put through ducts,” she said. “Lines like that [in rural areas] come down the roads. Flying debris hits them.”
As one of thousands of properties in Scotland that could experience power outages, Saunders said they had installed a generator to be prepared for situations like this, “a privilege not everyone can afford”.
“The estimated reconnection time is 10pm today, there is no guarantee though. The house is warm and comfortable and we have lights,” said Saunders, although she expressed concern for the locals who have health problems.
“Are they able to communicate with the medical services? Do they have mobile services that work? Fortunately, the weather is very mild. If a storm like this happened during the freezing and snowy weather there would certainly be loss of life, because most people don’t have a generator.”
Chris, a 42-year-old IT consultant from Brixton, South London, said his dog, Tonks, saved him from being hit by a fallen tree during a brisk walk at around 7pm on Sunday evening.
“While we were outside, there was a very strong gust of wind and a cracking noise in front of us,” said Chris. “I didn’t think anything of it. Fortunately, my dog is always alert to loud noises. She heard it, she was afraid and I pulled forward. When I looked back, a large tree branch, about 3 inches thick at the break, had fallen on the path right where we were.
“Complaint escape from luck. If I had cracked it on the head, it would have hit me.
“Even though she’s not a rough collie, I’m going to have to rename my dog Lassie. She received quite a few presents.”
Vueling airline has been contacted for comment.
