This morning, a London Gatwick spokesperson said flights have resumed from the airport but they predict it will take time for operations "to fully return to normal".

They urged passengers to continue to check with their airlines for the latest information.

Meanwhile, a Heathrow spokesperson said flights are operating today but they expect "knock-on impacts" as aircraft and crew reposition. Extra staff are on hand to offer passengers support across Heathrow terminals, the spokesperson adds.

They also urge passengers to check the latest updates from their airlines.

According to Gatwick's departures board, flights were able to leave the airport this morning with delays ranging from 10 minutes to two hours.

Heathrow's departures board shows some cancellations, but flights are setting off from the airport.

Some passengers are waking up from an uncomfortable slumber this morning, after 362 flights were cancelled at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday– according to flight tracking site AirNav Radar.

The airport has warned "some disruption" may continue on Wednesday, as airlines "reposition aircraft and crew".

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

The boss of Nats, the UK's air traffic control provider, has apologised to passengers after a technical error led to hundreds of cancelled flights and widespread disruption on Tuesday.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Martin Rolfe says "I absolutely understand the frustration... we absolutely take accountability and responsibility for that".

On what went wrong, Rolfe says Nats has ruled out a cyber attack and says it will be doing a "very, very thorough" investigation.

"Inevitably things to go wrong in complex systems, we never want them to, we hope they don't, but we absolutely plan for them," Rolfe says.

Asked if things go "as wrong" in other countries, Rolfe says "absolutely", adding the UK has "one of the best reputation in the world for its air traffic control service".

He says Nats has invested more than £1bn in technology over the past 25 years and its services have "consistently improved from a very good base".

"But all of these things do not detract from the fact that when these things happen it is disappointing and upsetting, for which I apologise."

It's all eyes on Nats, the UK's national air traffic services, after an air traffic control problem cancelled nearly 2,000 flights on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of passengers were affected by the disruption, and a further 153 flights have been axed on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Nats blamed a technical glitch, and its boss Martin Rolfe has apologised. He says there will be a full investigation, after the firm admitted resolving the issue had taken "longer than hoped".

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has summoned Rolfe to a meeting on Wednesday to answer questions about the disruption and response.

She is expected to tell MPs that a cyber attack was "categorically" not the cause of the fault.

We'll be following the fall-out of Tuesday's glitch here.

Image source, PA Media

Tara Mewawalla
Live reporter

There are warnings of further disruption at airports after hundreds of flights were cancelled and delayed due to an issue with air traffic control.

Nats - the air traffic control provider - has fixed the issue this evening, but said earlier that recovery is taking "longer than we had hoped".

Europe's busiest airline, Ryanair, earlier reported that more than 65,000 passengers had been delayed by up to eight hours, and British Airways warned of "significant knock-on" impacts.

Chief executive of Nats Martin Rolfe defends the body as "fit for purpose," but says there is a "huge backlog" of flights and passengers.

Bristol Airport said flights are now arriving and departing and London Heathrow said arrivals had been suspended for the rest of the day "to ensure safety", but departures had resumed. Both said disruption was expected to continue

Manchester Airport and East Midlands Airport both issued statements saying they expect a "full flight schedule" to operate tomorrow, though - again - disruption is expected for the rest of the day

We are pausing our live coverage - but you can read more in our news story

Image source, PA Media

Katy Austin
Transport correspondent

Martin Rolfe, the chief executive of Nats, tells the BBC that his organisation's systems are fit for purpose, and has apologised for Tuesday's issue.

Speaking to the BBC, he says that while the system was now operating normally, “of course, there's a huge backlog” of flights and passengers.

When pushed on how long systems weren’t working properly, Rolfe wasn’t sure but agrees it was “probably” in the ballpark of six hours.

Rolfe says the focus is "about recovery" and they are "having a full investigation" into what went wrong.

Asked if an incident like this showed Nats’ systems aren't fit for purpose, he responds: “I don't think so, no."

He says: “Whilst we never want these things to happen - and I absolutely apologise for the fact it has happened today - I do think we're fit for purpose."

Asked if he is considering his position, Rolfe says: "I’m obviously focusing on making sure that we get this solved.

"My focus today has been making sure the team's in the right place, we have the right resources, the technical issues are being investigated, and the recovery happens.

"There'll be lots of time for that later, but that's not now,” he adds.

Monitoring service FlightRadar has reported that "more than 1,000 flights have been cancelled" across UK airports.

In a post on X earlier on Tuesday evening, the service says that inbound flights into London airports, Manchester and Birmingham are "looking very different tonight compared to last Tuesday".

Bristol Airport says flights are now arriving and departing at Bristol Airport, following the Nats issue earlier today.

In a statement on X, it warns that disruption is "likely to continue" into tomorrow and customers should check the latest flight information with their airline.

Heathrow Airport says arrivals have been suspended for the remainder of the day "to ensure the safety of our passengers and colleagues".

In a statement published on X, the airport says departures have resumed but "disruption is expected to continue", so it advises passengers to check with their airline for the latest information for their flight before travelling to the airport.

"We apologise to those affected and are supporting our local Nats team and airline partners as they work through the resulting disruption," it adds.

Image source, Reuters

We have just had a statement from East Midlands Airport, saying it expects a "full flight schedule" to operate tomorrow.

Manchester Airport, which is part of the same airport operator, Manchester Airports Group, has shared an identical statement also timestamped to 20:20 BST.

It says that though the Nats issue from earlier today is fixed, "flight disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day".

Passengers disrupted by delayed and cancelled flights have shared their experiences, watch below:

Image source, Getty Images

A quick trawl over the websites of flights across the UK shows a huge amount of disruption continues into the evening.

Here's an example of some of the flights that were displaying as cancelled or delayed, shortly after 21:00 BST on Tuesday:

At Manchester airport:

• 20:35 Ryanair FR3238 to Charleroi
• 21:30 Vueling Airlines VY8749 to Barcelona

At Birmingham airport:

• 16:40 Ryanair FR2162 to Palma has been delayed to an estimated time of 23:30

At London Heathrow airport:

• 20:20 British Airways BA508 to Lisbon
• 22:30 AM008 to Mexico City

At Glasgow airport:

• 20:05 Easyjet EZY411 to London Stansted
• 20:40 Ryanair FR5562 to Dublin is delayed to an estimated take-off of 01:50 on Wednesday

East Midlands Airport says it is expecting to operate a "full flight schedule" on Wednesday.

In a statement shared on X, and timestamped to 20:20 BST, the airport says that the Nats issue from earlier today is fixed but "flight disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day".

The airport adds: "A full flight schedule is expected to operate tomorrow but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights."

Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) says it has had to cancel four flights so far due to the national issue with air traffic control.

In an update shared with passengers at 19:30 BST, the airport in West Yorkshire said five further flights were left to depart this evening.

"There are ongoing residual delays as the airlines recover service," a spokesperson for LBA said, thanking customers for their patience.

While the system issue impacting Nats has been resolved, the air traffic control provider admits the recovery of regular flights is taking longer than hoped.

That delay has left passengers across the country frowning at screens and flicking through their phones - like these travellers pictured at London Heathrow today.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

Jack Grey
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Hundreds of flights at airports across the UK have been cancelled due to an air traffic control issue.

Here's what we know:

• The issue has now been fixed, according to air traffic control provider Nats, who said its systems were "starting to recover", but later added that the recovery was taking "longer than hoped"
• The BBC understands small numbers of aircraft are being released as “trials” at various airports, with a view to ramping up to more regular flights

• Nats said the disruption was caused by an issue with its “flight processing system"
• The fault was widespread across the UK, and beyond, with airports in Scotland and Ireland also reporting disruption
• Europe's busiest airline, Ryanair, earlier reported that more than 65,000 passengers had been delayed by up to eight hours

And what we don't know:

• The exact cause of the fault that led to the disruption, other than it being a technical issue in Nats' systems
• How long it will take for flights to fully resume and for the backlog to be fully cleared

Image source, Getty Images

Wizz Air has branded air traffic control provider Nats "simply not fit for purpose in its current form" after a technical issue caused hundreds of cancelled flights.

In a statement the airline says it is "extremely disappointed" that "another Nats technical failure" has caused widespread disruption.

"A critical national infrastructure provider should not repeatedly bring the aviation system to a standstill," it says.

It says "urgent reform is needed" and that airlines, passengers and airports "cannot continue to bear the consequences of recurring system failures".

"We sincerely apologise to affected passengers, but today’s disruption originates from the UK air traffic control system and is entirely outside Wizz Air’s control," the statement concludes.

Nats declined to comment on Wizz Air's statement when contacted by the BBC.

Air traffic control provider Nats says recovery from its system issue that has caused widespread disruption is taking "longer than we had hoped".

"Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights," it says in a post on X.

"We are truly sorry for the ongoing flight disruption. We know this is hugely frustrating and apologise unreservedly. Passengers should continue to check with their airline."

Image source, Emma Chun

Emma Chun is currently tucking into her British Airways starter on the Heathrow tarmac after her flight was cancelled, but passengers aren’t yet able to get off the plane.

She says the flight was due to take off for New York at 13:20 BST, but all flights were grounded before the plane was given clearance to take off - with passengers since being told the flight had been cancelled.

Emma was still on the plane at 18:30.

"We can’t get off the plane as there’s no steps available so they’ve just served our starters," she says, adding that cabin crew have been able to tell passengers very little.

Emma adds that British Airways have instead booked them on an alternative flight tomorrow, via Copenhagen, arriving in New York on Thursday evening.

"We were due to fly to Buffalo for the day on Thursday to go to Niagra Falls so it means we would also miss that," she says.

Faye Hawker
Live reporter

So far this afternoon, at least 22 flights which were due to land at Heathrow have been diverted to other UK and European airports. They are:

15:10 Finnair 1335 Helsinki to Heathrow diverted to Stansted

15:25 BA268 Los Angeles to Heathrow diverted to Manchester

15:35 BA381 Tirana to Heathrow landed at Gatwick

15:45 BA008 Tokyo to Heathrow diverted to Manchester

15:45 SQ 308 Singapore to Heathrow diverted to Paris

15:45 BA625 Tivat to Heathrow diverted to Gatwick

16:00 AM007 Mexico City to Heathrow diverted to Paris

16:00 TK1931 Istanbul to Heathrow diverted to Birmingham

16:05 BA274 Las Vegas to Heathrow diverted to Gatwick

16:10 EK031 Dubai to Heathrow diverted to Birmingham

16:15 VS301 Delhi to Heathrow diverted to Stansted

16:20 NH211 Tokyo to Heathrow diverted to Stansted

16:30 CI081 Taipei to Heathrow diverted to Frankfurt

16:40 TK1971 Istanbul to Heathrow diverted to Brussels

16:45 BA717 Istanbul to Heathrow diverted to Luton

16:55 BA062 Nairobi to Heathrow diverted to Stansted

17:00 BA 689 Santorini to Heathrow diverted to Stansted

17:35 VS 024 Los Angeles to Heathrow diverted to Manchester

17:40 BA705 Larnaca to Heathrow diverted to Manchester

17:45 6E001 Mumbai to Heathrow diverted to Amsterdam

18:15 BA198 Mumbai diverted to Amsterdam

18:40 BA238 Boston to Heathrow diverted to Glasgow