Flight delays across UK, Ireland

Flights are being delayed across the UK and Ireland because of an air traffic control centre fault.

The National Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) said its Swanwick centre, in Hampshire, was having "difficulty switching from night time to daytime operation".

It said the problem will not be fixed until between 1800 GMT and 1900 GMT with delays likely to continue beyond.

At midday, air traffic controllers had dealt with 1,700 flights rather than the usual 2,000 on a normal Saturday.

Heathrow had cancelled 60 flights by 09:45 GMT, with these split between arrivals and departures.

Belfast, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Southampton, Luton, London City, Newcastle, Exeter and Bournemouth are among other airports that have reported delays, asking passengers to check with their airlines.

Stansted Airport said flights were subject to delays, while Gatwick said 20% of its departures had been delayed, with passengers being warned they may have to wait for "a couple of hours".

Ryanair, British Airways and EasyJet have also announced the possibility of delays in flights.