British tourists stranded on Corsica by freak storms

BRITISH holidaymakers have been stranded on Corsica as easyjet flights were delayed and cancelled due to freak storms.

All four of the island’s airports were affected after storms and flash flooding followed last week’s heatwave in southern Europe. The airline said: “The disruption is beyond our control and due to extraordinary circumstances.”

Dozens of passengers heading to Britain were reportedly told it could take up to a week for them to get home.

Jon Snow, the Channel 4 news anchor, wrote on Twitter: “Passengers report 180 passengers affected, 70 told they reach Lyon Tues, the others told it may take a week to get home.”

It comes in one of the busiest weeks for British holidaymakers, with schools finishing for the summer.

Easyjet last night could not be reached for comment.

Three people have died in the storms over the weekend, including a woman caught in a mini-tornado near Fiumicino airport near Rome.

The 26-year-old was driving home around 2am yesterday when her car was sent crashing against a railing.

Localised winds tore up trees and scattered debris across the areas they hit. Further north, a 45-year-old Norwegian man was killed as he was competing in an ultra-marathon in the Dolomite Mountains.

He died after being hit by lightning while running at 2,000 metres (6,500ft) altitude on Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, near Arezzo, south of Florence, in the northern Tuscany region, a 70-year-old man died after his car was caught by flash-flooding.

The emergency services found his body in a mud-filled canal.

Coldiretti, Italy’s main agricultural organisation, said that hailstorms over the last 24 hours had caused millions of euros worth of damage across the country.

Worst hit was the Arezzo province in Tuscany, they said.