‘Smoke smells’ have downed flights, forcing pilots to land as routes across the UK are diverted.
Landings were made by flights travelling to and from Jersey, Liverpool, Manchester and Dublin as a precaution.
A John Lennon Airport spokesman said three ‘precautionary landings’ were due to reported smells in the cockpits of planes.
Flights have been forced to land as a precaution after smoke smells were detected by passengers and pilots
Aurigny, British Airways and Easyjet say the smells were linked to weather conditions, according to the BBC.
After the ‘atmospheric conditions’ were reported, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were called to John Lennon Airport at about 7:39am to support airport fire personnel, who boarded a passenger jet.
This EasyJet flight to Hamburg was forced to turn around and land at Manchester Airport following reports of a smokey smell
Flights were downed as the sky in London took on a redness caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia
Steph Whitehead, from Liverpool, said her Easyjet flight from Manchester Airport to Hamburg was in the air for 20 minutes before the caption reported ‘smoke in the cockpit’ and returned to Manchester.
Air traffic control services company NATS confirmed it has facilitated diversions from aircraft reporting fumes being detected in the cockpit.
The smell is thought to be the result of ‘atmospheric conditions’ caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia
A spokesman confirmed all of the flights have landed safely.
The diversions follow reports of reddish sky in England, which the Met Office has attributed to tropical air and dust being dragged into the UK by the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia.
And EasyJet flight to Alicante was also forced to land shortly after 1pm following reports of fumes in the plane
The red tint to skies above London is being caused by dust from the Sahara and smoke from wildfires in Portugal and Spain
It is also thought the redness is being caused by forest fire debris from Portugal and Spain.
A Met Office spokesperson said: ‘The same southerly winds that have brought us the current warmth have also drawn dust from the Sahara and smoke from wildfires occurring over northern Iberia (Spain/Portugal) to our latitudes.’
A sulphur-like smell was detected on board flights, forcing them to return to land today
As atmospheric conditions cause the sky to redden in London, sulphur-like smells were detected on flights across the UK