A technical fault in the air traffic control system on Tuesday forced the cancellation of nearly 1,100 flights to and from UK airports, causing widespread disruption.

By 19:00 GMT, 1,055 flights had been cancelled, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

The UK’s air traffic control provider, NATS, said the fault had been resolved and operations had returned to normal. However, it explained that recovery had taken longer than expected, resulting in a backlog of flights, and apologised to passengers.