Storm Disrupts Canary Islands Flights, Strands Thousands of British Tourists

Thousands of Britons are stranded abroad because the Canary Islands are plagued by a storm. In a statement to The Sun, Ken Bennett, an expatriate living in Los Gigantes, Tenerife, said the storm had raged for about 24 hours. "It was a stormy and rainy day, there was quite heavy rain. It’s a lot colder, around 17 degrees," he said. As a result, 34 flights from Tenerife, Lanzarote and La Palma were disrupted. Planes were forced to land in Faro, Portugal, or Marrakech, Morocco. Enough to provoke the anger of some passengers.

They criticized the airlines, claiming there were delays of up to three hours to get information. "Absolute chaos from Thomas Cook (British tourism company, editor’s note)... Stuck at Lanzarote airport. No one says what’s going on," rages Anthony Howells in a tweet. "Different stories from the ground representatives, no Tannoy system in place - chaos in the boarding lounge. Maybe get vouchers, is the flight cancelled?" asks Dan Yale. "@TUIUKcares can you tell us why we are sitting in a plane at Faro airport when we should be in Lanzarote? We’ve been stuck here for over 2 hours!" writes Jasmine Brett.