Yesterday’s British Airways flight to Bermuda was cancelled as chaos across Britain’s airports grounded aircraft throughout the country.

The problem was linked to a system glitch to Nats, the country’s air traffic control service provider, that kept planes from flying for hours.

BA0159, set for Bermuda, was initially supposed to leave Heathrow in London at 2.20pm local time and arrive just before 6pm on Tuesday.

The hitch impacted all London airports, as well as Manchester Airport and Birmingham Airport.

Other airports around the UK, such as in Edinburgh and Belfast, were also affected.

Airlines cancelled at least 600 flights going in and out of the UK by Tuesday afternoon while many others were delayed, keeping hundreds of thousands of air passengers stuck.

Heathrow suspended arrivals for the rest of the day but allowed remaining departures to continue.

The systemic problem was resolved by about 2.50pm UK time, but delays are expected to persist beyond the repair because of backlogs and waits.