Bristol Airport closure LIVE: Thunderstorms cancels flights as travel warning issued

Bristol Airport closure LIVE: Thunderstorms cancels flights as travel warning issued All flights are currently grounded due of flash thunderstorms which have resulted in damage to the ground radar and communication systems, leaving passengers stranded A major airport has been forced to close after thunderstorms knocked out all communication with air traffic control. The airport has been closed with all flights currently grounded, after flash thunderstorms lashed the region on Monday night, June 22 which has resulted in damage to both ground radar and communication systems. On its website, the airport said: "Following the earlier electrical storm, Bristol Airport remains closed to arriving and departing aircraft whilst engineers investigate a fault with Air Traffic Control systems. Customers should contact their airline with any specific flight queries." Inbound flights are now either waiting in holding patterns or diverting to alternate airfields. This is a breaking news story - you can follow our live blog down below. A Met Office lightning strike tracker has shown just how intense Monday's thunderstorm was in Bristol. According to the UK weather bureau, Bristol has seen 27,591 lightning strikes in total since 4am Sunday (June 21) . Independent aviation tracker, the Aviation News UK Airport Operations Monitor, claims that some arrivals have now resumed in Bristol - but the knock-on effect from tonight's comms interuption will be felt in the coming days. The independent site, which shares aeronautical operational information for airports across UK and Ireland in real time, claims that "arrivals have became available again and will be regulated with a reduced recovery rate until 4am UTC". "Disruption is to be expected for at least the next day due to aircraft and crew being in the wrong location." Unconfirmed reports indicate that planes have been given the all-clear to use Bristol's runways once more, with the arrivals board via aviation tracker FlightRadar24 revealing two flights are delayed but set to land at Bristol. A third flight, easyJet flight U22736 from Gran Canaria to Bristol, has been diverted to Birmingham Airport in the wake of radar and comms faults for air traffic control at the airport in South West England. BY419Dalaman (DLM) TUI(G-TUMF)U22736Gran Canaria (LPA) easyJet(G-UZME)BHXBY227Sharm el-Sheikh (SSH) TUI(G-TUPA)Footage of Bristol's summer thunderstorms this Monday (June 22) evening are making their way online, with one account on social media platform X - formerly known as Twitter - uploading a GIF that caught the exact moment lightning struck. In the clip, reportedly captured near Bristol airport, white fingers of lightning can be seen crashing down to earth in an impressive display of force from Mother Nature. Earlier on Monday evening, he Met Office announced a thunderstorm warning for several regions across the UK on Monday night, spanning from 5pm to 9pm. While the weather alert has since expired, communities across south West England are still reeling in the wake of wild storms and flash flooding. Who did the warning cover? The weather alert applied to parts of East of England, London and South East England, South West England. What was the full alert? A Yellow weather warning is in effect, continuing until Monday 9pm. The forecast indicates frequent lightning strikes and heavy rain in the impacted regions. A Met Office forecaster said, in a statement issued alongside the urgent weather alert earlier this evening (June 22): "An area of thunderstorms moving east across the area will bring a spell of frequent lightning, gusty winds, torrential rain, and a few places, hail. The storms will be moving quickly reducing the potential for widespread large amounts of rain, but there is a few places could see 20-25 mm of rainfall in a short period in the most active storms, which could bring some brief flooding. "The majority of impacts are likely to come from other hazards however, such as lightning striking buildings and causing power cuts, difficult driving conditions in heavy rain, and some localised damage to vulnerable structures by strong wind gusts or hail." Inrix is now reporting that the airport has been closed with all flights currently grounded because of flash thunderstorms which have resulted in damage to the ground radar and communication systems. As per the Bristol Post, the airport has been slammed for a perceived lack of communication with travellers in the wake of earlier thunderstorms. 'One person who says their partner is stuck at Bristol due to the storms told the Bristol Post: "I have a partner stuck at the Airport. She just said that all shops were closed so people can't buy food or drinks, no information was given to passengers via intercom or anything, people can't get their luggage or know what to do. "Absolute shambles." Earlier reports of disruption to air traffic revealed that 850 passengers - or five flights - were diverted from Bristol to Gatwick Airport.It is understood that EasyJet provided coaches back to Bristol to ensure passengers would eventually arrive at their intended destination. Traffic monitoring program Inrix first reported issues at Bristol Airport just before 7pm in the wake of summer thunderstorms. The 6.53pm alert read: "Disruption at Bristol Airport as flights are currently grounded due to flash thunderstorms." It also urged passengers to double check with their airline ""before they travel".