More than 150 Ryanair flights have been delayed or cancelled at Stansted Airport because of thunderstorms.

Norwich Evening News: File photo of a Ryanair plane st Stansted Airport as dozens of Ryanair flights are cancelled. Picture PA.File photo of a Ryanair plane st Stansted Airport as dozens of Ryanair flights are cancelled. Picture PA.

Passengers reported long queues, a lack of information and sitting on planes that had not moved for several hours.

A spokeswoman for the Essex airport said the disruption was caused by storms and air traffic control (ATC) restrictions.

Craig Osben, from Hopton-on-Sea, was one of hundreds affected by the cancellations.

He said: 'I was meant to be flying home from Budapest at 15:35 (14:35 GMT) today but now my flight isn't until 21:20 (20:20 GMT) so it's roughly 30 hours delayed.

'We (myself and my mate) found out via text message 30 minutes before we were due to checkout from our Airbnb. It has been incredibly stressful trying to sort out flights home.

'Ryanair could only get us home via the aforementioned flight so it added to the stress of having to book somewhere for an extra night.

'We've also had to cancel appointments that were booked for tomorrow and had to discuss taking extra time off work due to the extra day.'

London Stansted also suffered disruption on Friday night due to severe weather.

The airport said in a statement: 'Following the thunderstorms across the South East earlier today, subsequent airspace restrictions have limited the number of aircraft that can operate in and out of London Stansted Airport.

'This has meant knock-on delays to flights across the day and Ryanair has taken the decision to cancel a number of its flights.

'We continue to advise passengers due to travel today to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.'

Seventy departing flights across all airlines were delayed between 6am and 9am on Tuesday, equivalent to 84pc of the schedule, according to flightstats.com data.

As of 11.30am some 64 arriving and departing Ryanair flights for the whole day were cancelled, representing around 17pc of the Dublin-based carrier's services at the airport. A further 89 were delayed.

Love Island winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham were among those delayed on return home to the UK. The couple and their fellow finalists on the ITV2 reality show were on a flight from Palma Majorca, which was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes.

A spokesman for Ryanair said: 'Due to thunderstorms in Stansted today, Ryanair have been forced to cancel a number of first wave flights to/from Stansted.

'The knock-on effect of this and ATC staff shortages may cause further disruptions throughout the day, including delays and cancellations.

'Affected customers will be notified by email and SMS text message and advised of their options of a refund or free move to the next available flight.

'Ryanair sincerely apologise for these weather and ATC disruptions which are entirely beyond our control.'