A family who flew to Lanzarote from Birmingham were stuck in Lanzarote airport after their flight was cancelled due to a major tech outage.

A family were stuck in Lanzarote airport after their flight was cancelled due to a major tech outage.

Nathan Elliot, 35, is stuck in Lanzarote, Spain with his partner, Fallon Swallow, 37, and two-year-old daughter, Blaise Elliot, and in-laws, Mark and Deb Swallow, after the National Air Traffic Services' (NATS) system failure.

The major tech outage caused more disruption yesterday (Thursday).

Passengers stranded at Lanzarote Airport following tech outages as UK flights cancelled. | Nathan Elliot / SWNS

placeholder image — Passengers stranded at Lanzarote Airport following tech outages as UK flights cancelled. | Nathan Elliot / SWNS

The family, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, had flown out from Birmingham seven days prior to enjoy a holiday in the last week of summer.

They were due to return on an a 6.35pm flight from César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport on September 8 and arrived via transfer three hours before their plane was due to depart.

When they arrived, departure screens showed their flight as delayed to 11pm, and they were advised by staff to check their bags and keep an eye out for email updates.

Nathan with partner Fallon and daughter Blaise in Lanzarote | Nathan Elliot / SWNS

Seven hours later, they received an email from airline provider EasyJet saying that their flight had been cancelled, and they'd been moved to a flight on September 10 to London Gatwick.

EasyJet said they would provide the family with accommodation for the night, but ultimately emailed Nathan saying they were unable to find anywhere.

As it was so late, all the hotels had been booked, so Nathan and his family were forced to sleep on the cold airport floors with nothing but water for their dinner.

Nathan told Talk to the Press on Thursday: "It's been a really frustrating experience.

"Luckily my daughter was able to sleep in her buggy, but my partner and I really struggled just lying on the floor.

"Also, as it had gotten so late, the airport shops had all closed, so our only source of food or water was a vending machine which we soon realised was broken.

"We had some juice and little snacks for my daughter, but me, my partner and my in-laws all had to share a couple of bottles of water for the night."

Nathan Elliot and his family sit at Lanzarote Airport where they are stuck following tech outages as UK flights cancelled | Nathan Elliot / SWNS

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) suffered an issue with its “flight processing system”. More than 2,000 flights have been cancelled over two days, including 291 journeys today.

Nathan has been able to find a hotel for this evening to see them through until the flight they've been moved to tomorrow.

Broken vending machine at César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport, which Nathan Elliot said was the only source of acquiring water after the airport's shops closed. | Nathan Elliot / SWNS

He said: "We've been lucky enough to find a hotel for tonight ahead of the journey tomorrow, but that cost us £880 (€1025) and we don't know if it will be reimbursed.

"Also our new flight is taking us to London Gatwick, but we planned to return to Birmingham which is where our car is parked.

"Right now we have no idea how we'll be getting home from Gatwick."

EasyJet have been contacted for comment.