Ryanair flight heading to Manchester Airport makes emergency landing after running out of fuel in Storm Pia

A plane heading to Manchester was forced to make an emergency landing amid the chaos of Storm Pia on Thursday. The Ryanair flight from Brussels was forced to declare an emergency and land at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The Boeing 737-800 jet had been on the approach to Manchester Airport, when air traffic control asked it to enter a holding pattern (a flight path maintained by an aircraft waiting for permission to land). Traffic into the airport was being regulated due to the weather conditions and strong winds.

However, 40 minutes later as they were still waiting to land pilots declared a general emergency due to low fuel and diverted to Liverpool Airport, where it landed 10 minutes later. The plane was one of a number of flights diverted to Liverpool and other nearby airports due to the weather issues in Manchester, as strong winds from Storm Pia battered the northwest.

A spokesperson for Liverpool Airport said: "We have taken a couple of flights this morning which have been diverted here due to weather issues at Manchester. Flights are otherwise operating as per normal for us still at present."

Travellers on Thursday were beset by issues due to the weather with the rail route between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston blocked for more than two hours. A lorry also overturned on the M60 causing huge tailbacks for motorists.