Thousands of Britons due to fly back for the US are stuck on the other side of the Atlantic as flights from the eastern seaboard of the US were thrown into chaos caused by Hurricane Irene.
Driving rain and strong winds across the region prevented airlines from operating flights at four of the main New York-area airports over the weekend.
Airlines warned that the threat of heavy flooding could mean further delays even after the passing of Irene, which was downgraded from a hurricane on Sunday morning. Irene has passed into Canada after causing havoc on the US east coast from North Carolina to Vermont.
Torrential rain and flood tides damaged homes and cut power to more than three million people in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York alone. In New York City, which escaped the worst of Irene, the subway network and three main airports all reopened yesterday (Monday).
But British Airways and Virgin Atlantic could not say how long routes to the US east coast would return to normal given the backlog of delayed passengers.
A BA spokeswoman said: “Flights to and from New York JFK and Newark will be particularly badly affected after the local authorities made a decision to completely close the airports for much of the weekend.” Some flights to Philadelphia and Boston were also cancelled, she added.
Virgin Atlantic said it regretted having to cancel flights to and from New York and some Boston services over the weekend. A statement on its website warned those waiting for flights home from the US that they may have to wait more than three or four days.
“We are focusing all our energy on a recovery plan to bring people back home. Because flights are already very full it will be a little while before everybody is accommodated,” the airline said.
More than 10,000 flights in the US were cancelled from Friday mostly at New York-area airports that handle about 100 million passengers a year. The storm caused part of a ski lodge to collapse in the town of Killington, where as many as 300 guests and 100 staff were stranded on Monday due to flooded roads.
The Associated Press news agency estimated that 40 people had been killed in 11 US states, mostly because of falling trees, ocean waves, downed power lines and raging floods. Insurance claims could top $7 billion (£4.3 billion), the Consumer Federation of America estimated.