Flights from Stansted, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Southampton, London City, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin cancelled or delayed
Thousands of passengers have been left stranded at the UK's major airports after technical problems at the country's main air traffic control centre caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled or delayed.
The problems at National Air Traffic Services' (Nats) control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, have led to delays of up to two hours and a fifth of flights being cancelled at Stansted and Gatwick airports.
Heathrow, Luton, Southampton, London City, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin airports have also reported delays to flights.
A Nats spokesman said: "Due to a technical problem at Swanwick, we are currently experiencing some difficulty switching from night-time to daytime operation. This may result in some delays, for which we apologise.
"Engineers are working to rectify the problem as soon as possible."
A Stansted airport spokesman said all of its departing flights were subject to delays of between 30 minutes and two hours, while Gatwick airport said 20% of its departures had been delayed, with passengers warned they could have to wait "a couple of hours".
The Stansted spokesman said: "There are restrictions on the air space and the flow of aircraft. Our first departures go at 6am, so that's when the problems started."
A spokeswoman for Gatwick airport said: "There are some issues with the air traffic control system.
"The result of it is that, at the moment, 20% of our flights are being delayed, by anything up to a couple of hours, but we're getting people moving and getting them away. There are no problems with arrivals at the moment."
Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest situation.
"We are currently looking at an estimated one hour, 40 minutes delay."
There have been cancellations at Heathrow airport for flights scheduled to leave this morning.
A Heathrow airport spokeswoman said: "We are currently experiencing some delays."
Flight information on the airport's website showed several departures to both domestic and international destinations had been cancelled.
On its website, Ryanair apologised for any inconvenience, writing: "Ryanair has been advised of an equipment failure within UK air traffic control which will cause significant flight delays and possible cancellations."
Passenger Daisy McAndrew said she had been caught in the "unholy mess" at Gatwick as she tried to fly to Barcelona for work. "As ever, staff have been fantastic but they know nothing other than the fact it is going to be a very, very long delay - very frustrating," McAndrew told Sky News.
"And also, it's embarrassing, isn't it? When you look around a lot of people on my plane are not British, they are flying British Airways, they are probably trying to get back to Spain and they will inevitably be thinking this is something that could have possibly been prevented.
"It doesn't show our air traffic control system or our travel system in a good light.
"I have never heard of an example where every single plane is grounded - it's quite eerie when I look out of the window to see the tarmac in Gatwick, normally so busy, and also the sky above Gatwick which is normally busy - completely static, there's nothing moving."
A spokesman for Cardiff airport said all flights this morning had been affected.
Incoming flights from Glasgow, Dublin and Amsterdam are delayed with no estimated time of arrival.
The spokesman added: "Both [departures and arrivals] have been delayed because of the knock-on effect of the late arrivals of the service."
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