“British Families’ Harrowing Journey Home After Escaping Dubai Floods”

Families who escaped flood-hit Dubai have revealed the ‘absolute nightmare’ journey they faced in a bid to get back to Britain.

Planes carrying people from the city arrived at Heathrow Airport today, with those on board telling of chaotic scenes and their panicked attempts to find a way home.

One couple claimed such was the intensity of the rain brought on by the once-in-a-generation storm, that cabin crew on their flight had to use duct tape to stop the emergency exits from leaking.

They added that dozens of people had been kicked off their plane in ‘appalling conditions’, with stewards telling passengers that some would have to leave to help balance the aircraft before take-off.

Other passengers who made the journey home revealed the treacherous conditions on the ground in Dubai, with one man revealing his grandmother was trapped in a vehicle in floodwaters for hours before being rescued.

Meanwhile, those left at the airports in Dubai say they have been left for hours with no information, with some people reportedly passing out in the queue while waiting for updates.

It comes after Britons who are in Dubai opened up about their nightmarish experiences in the city after a storm dumped more than a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours.

One father told MailOnline how his family were forced to sleep on the floor in a shopping mall after being trapped overnight by rising waters, while one woman said it felt like being in the ‘apocalypse’.

Were you caught in the storm in Dubai? Email katherine.lawton@mailonline.co.uk

Dubai International Airport, which is one of the busiest in the world, has seen dozens of flights cancelled and delayed today as it recovers from the storm which covered its runway in water so deep that planes struggled to land and take-off. 

Those who managed to get on early morning flights which departed for Heathrow this morning breathed a sigh of relief as they touched down in London hours later.

Sue and Steve, from Chalfont St Peter’s, arrived on Emirates flight EK7 which was delayed for almost five hours due to the weather conditions.

They were due to leave Dubai on Tuesday night but were told they had to get off their original flight.

Sue told MailOnline: ‘It was an absolute nightmare. We were on the first flight when they said 45 passengers had to get off.

‘The conditions were appalling. They had duct taped one of the emergency exits. They had difficulty closing it.

‘They told us we had to get off the flight so they could ‘balance the load’ because of the weather conditions.

‘They also told a family to get off because a child was sick.’

Steve said they were taken back to the lounge and told to wait, but were ‘kept in the dark as nobody was telling us anything’.

He said it was only by chance that they found out they were on the next flight out, forcing them into a mad rush to get to the gate in time. 

The couple were returning to the UK from Melbourne, Australia.

Steve added: ‘The stairs were covered in water and it was pooling everywhere.

‘I think only 17 or the 45 taken off our first flight made the second one. If we didn’t ask someone we would have been stuck also.’

Meanwhile, one British man has been left stranded at a small airport an hour from Dubai after their plane was diverted there due to the flooding.

Paul Lidwith, 40, a solicitor from St Helens, Merseyside, said he was stranded for seven hours ‘without a single update’.

He was travelling with Emirates from New Zealand to Manchester via Sydney and Dubai, but his flight to Dubai International Airport was diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport, located an hour away in the city.

He said he has not been given any food or water, and claimed staff at Emirates had not provided information about his flight to Manchester.

He told the PA news agency: ‘This airport is for cargo planes and it deals with about maybe half a dozen flights a day.

‘They couldn’t handle the flights that were diverted from Dubai International.

‘We had to wait on the tarmac for nearly five hours.

‘It took our total journey time from leaving Sydney to getting off the plane here to 22 hours.

‘It’s just been an absolute disaster.

‘We’re stuck here and seven hours without a single update is inexcusable.’

Back at Heathrow, one arrival declared ‘we are the lucky ones’ as she left the arrivals lounge.

Yvonne Newbery, 71, from Queensland, Australia, said: ‘Some people couldn’t get on the plane and were sent to a hotel.

‘It’s not Emirates’ fault because the weather is out of their hands. I had no concerns because the airline e knows what they are doing.

‘I was delayed for about five hours and now I will enjoy my holiday.’

Holly Piper, 42, from Guilford, Surrey was in Phuket, Thailand with her family before flying into Dubai.

‘We didn’t have any wet weather clothes with us as we didn’t think we would need it

‘When we arrived in Dubai we knew nothing about the storms. It was only when someone from the UK messaged us to ask if we were ‘okay’ that we found out there was a problem.

‘Inside the airport is a bit like a bubble. I was asleep when we arrived in Dubai. We circled for about two hours but I didn’t realise it at the time.

‘The airline could have told us about the weather as it’s not their fault. It could have made things easier for themselves.

‘When we were taking off to fly to Heathrow, the runway looked like a lake.

‘A few passengers thought the flight would be cancelled but we arrived home safe.’

Those who are still in Dubai have vented their frustration at the situation at the airport, with dozens of delays and cancellations keeping people from their destination.’

Kamal El Sherif, 22, who lives in Dubai and arrived in London for a holiday, said his grandmother had a lucky escape after being trapped by the rising floodwaters.

He told MailOnline: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this. It was a mess.

‘My grandma was stuck in a car in the floods for five hours before she was rescued. She is okay now.

‘They said it was the worst storms in Dubai for 40 years. It was really dark when it should have been bright.’

Sebastian Bartlett told MailOnline the situation was a ‘nightmare’ and people are ‘passing out’ while waiting to find out if they can get home.

Mr Bartlett, who is travelling back from Vietnam via Dubai, said: ‘Luckily I have another couple of days off work but a lot of others here are not so lucky.’

He said that while people were trying to stay positive, there was anger about the lack of communication with flights being pushed back ‘every 20 minutes or so’. 

‘A few [passengers] have passed out in the queue and has taken medics over 10/15mins to respond, other passengers have had to resort to fanning the fainted,’ he said.

Emirates announced it had suspended check-in for passengers departing from Dubai from 8am on Wednesday for the rest of the day “due to operational challenges caused by bad weather and road conditions”.

It said in a statement: “Passengers arriving in Dubai and already in transit will continue to be processed for their flights.

“Customers can expect delays to departures and arrivals, and are advised to check the latest flight schedules on emirates.com.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. Emirates is working hard to restore our scheduled operations, and our teams will provide all possible support to affected customers.”

British Airways said in a statement: “Airport restrictions caused by adverse weather mean that like other airlines, we’ve had to adjust our schedule to Dubai.

“We’re in contact with affected customers to provide them with support, including refund and rebooking options.”

Dubai International Airport – which is the world’s second busiest airport – was deluged from Monday night into Tuesday as the UAE saw the most rain it has recorded in data going back to 1949.

The airport issued a statement on Wednesday which said: “We advise you not to come to the airport, unless absolutely necessary.

“Flights continue to be delayed and diverted. Please check your flight status directly with your airline.

“We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions.”

Earlier one British family revealed they had been forced to sleep on the floor of a shopping mall in Dubai overnight as after being caught in the flooding chaos.

Jonathan Rodgers, who is in the city with his wife and 10-year-old daughter, told MailOnline they were stranded overnight in the Mall of the Emirates overnight as rising waters made it impossible to leave.

The family-of-three, along with dozens of others, became trapped when the roads around the building were flooded and all Dubai Metro services were cancelled due to the conditions.

He said they had been left on their own with ‘no information’ for hours on end with ‘customers and staff all stranded together’.

To add insult to injury, staff at the mall closed the toilets during the night, he claimed.

And despite the waters receding to an extent, the roads are still impassable as there is ‘no way past ambulance and recovery vehicles stranded in the road’, he said.

His words were echoed by Abi Cramp, who is stuck in the city after flying out to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

She told MailOnline: ‘Yesterday felt like the apocalypse. There was a point when we looked outside during the middle of the afternoon – it was pitch black as the wind and rain pelted the windows while lightning cracked the sky. 

‘The pictures don’t do it justice, but it did feel like something out of the The Day After Tomorrow.

‘The aftermath felt like the Titanic. Most of the roads are flooded. We had to scale walls to avoid wading through calf-high puddles. 

‘Most car parks are underwater, and the city was like a ghost town when we headed to get dinner.’

She added that her flight home has already been delayed after the plane was diverted to Kuwait as it couldn’t land at the airport because of the floodwater.

British YouTuber Calvin Fehr, who was in the city on business, shared his ordeal trying to leave the city as his flight back to the UK was delayed for hours.

Posting on TikTok, the car dealer, shared videos of torrential rain on the runway at Dubai International Airport as the Emirates aircraft he was on stood idle with ‘waves going around us’.

‘Literally, the whole runway is one big puddle’, he told his fans.

‘We are on an Emirates flight from Dubai to London Heathrow, it was meant to take off four hours ago and look out the window, we’ve got flood sin Dubai at the minute, and the whole airport is flooded.

‘The weather’s been terrible, the rain’s calmed down a little bit now but we not really got any indication of what’s going on. Fun and games.

The weather’s been amazing all week and then this morning it started chucking it down. Everyone’s getting a bit impatient.’

After finally taking off he shared aerial footage of the city showing huge traffic jams with vehicles unable to get through the floodwater.

The delays to departures left passengers trying to transit through Dubai to Europe frustrated.

Writing on X, one person who was trying to make their way to Britain, vented their frustration at their airline ‘leaving us in limbo’.

The chaos also meant delays and cancellations for those travelling to Dubai.

One plane of British Airways customers were frustrated after being left stuck more than 540 miles away from their destination in Kuwait as they could not land.

Annalisa Macklin tweeted: ‘Stuck at Kuwait airport instead of Dubai – no staff on the ground. What is going on???’

Dubai’s airport, which is the world’s busiest air hub for international passengers, confirmed a halt to arrivals at around 3.30pm GMT before announcing a ‘gradual resumption’ over two hours later. 

A total of 17 inbound and outbound flights were cancelled during the morning and three were diverted, Dubai Airports said in a statement. 

Shocking video showed several jets cutting through murky water at Dubai International Airport, as the huge aircraft appeared to be floating through the water in footage that went viral on social media.

However, the knock on effects are still being felt, with a statement shared by Dubai airport operators on social media this morning reading: ‘We advise you NOT to come to the airport, unless absolutely necessary. Flights continue to be delayed and diverted. 

‘Please check your flight status directly with your airline. We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions.’

Outside the walls of the airport, footage from those trapped in the wet conditions contains video and images that resemble an apocalyptic world.

Abandoned cars were left to gather and pile up as they remain submerged in heavily flooded roads.

A handful of brave drivers battling the elements were spotted sitting atop their roofs and waiting for rescue under the black sky.

The deep pools of water overtook streets lined with luxury vehicles which have been seen floating aimlessly after their drivers scrambled for escape.

A clip shared on X early on Tuesday showed entrepreneur and YouTuber Jordan Welch trapped in his Rolls Royce in Dubai as deep water flooded the road.

‘My Rolls Royce got flooded and we’re stuck in the middle of the road in Dubai,’ he wrote.

‘Just like all my friends in crypto… today I am underwater,’ he posted in a follow-up.

Unstable weather conditions are expected to continue in the region through to Wednesday, UAE’s National Center of Meteorology said. 

In neighbouring Oman at least 18 people are known to have died after the same storm caused heavy flooding, with others still missing.

The rains began late on Monday, soaking the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 0.79 inches of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport.

The storms intensified at around 9am local time on Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail onto the overwhelmed city.

Above the city, Dubai’s skies – usually electric blue and cloudless – darkened to night-like conditions in mid-afternoon as a second storm front blew in.

Lightning flashed across the sky on Tuesday, occasionally touching the tip of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

And patio furniture was seen falling from high-rise buildings as strong winds rocked the city through Tuesday.

By the end of Tuesday, more than 5.59 inches of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours.

An average year sees 3.73 inches of rain at Dubai International Airport.

Police and emergency personnel drove slowly through the flooded streets of Dubai, their emergency lights shining across the darkened roads.

The city’s driverless Metro saw disruptions and flooded stations.

Schools across the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, largely shut ahead of the storm and government employees were largely working remotely if able.

Many workers stayed home as well, though some ventured out, with the unfortunate stalling out their vehicles in deeper-than-expected water covering some roads.

Authorities sent tanker trucks out into the streets and highways to pump away the water. Water poured into some homes, forcing people to leave their houses.

The country’s hereditary rulers offered no overall damage information or injury information for the nation, as some slept in their flooded vehicles on Tuesday night.

In Ras al-Khaimah, the country’s northernmost emirate, police said one 70-year-old man died when his vehicle was swept away by floodwater.

Fujairah, an emirate on the UAE’s eastern coast, saw the heaviest rainfall on Tuesday with 5.7 inches falling there.

Authorities cancelled school and the government instituted remote work again for Wednesday.

Rain is unusual in the UAE, an arid, Arabian Peninsula nation, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months. Many roads and other areas lack drainage given the lack of regular rainfall, causing flooding.

Rain also fell in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

In neighbouring Oman, a sultanate that rests on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 18 people had been killed in heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement on Tuesday from the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management.

That includes some 10 schoolchildren swept away in a vehicle with an adult, which saw condolences come into the country from rulers across the region.