Passengers 'livid' over cancelled Ryanair flights

Ryanair passengers have described their anger at being told their flights were cancelled just hours beforehand.

More than 400,000 people are thought to be affected after the airline scrapped up to 50 flights a day over the next six weeks, due to an issue with the pilots' rota.

Ryanair has apologised but many travellers say they are not being told what will happen next.

:: Full list of Ryanair's cancelled flights

Ricky Harris told Sky News he was due to go to Barcelona on Sunday but had so far only received a text message.

He said he had been unable to contact the airline to ask about his options.

"We received a text last night at approximately 9.30," Mr Harris said. "It said it would be sent in conjunction with an email, which is yet to arrive, and (there is) no facility to contact Ryanair at this moment.

"Our main concern is that we've been told it's only the outbound flight that's been cancelled. We are awaiting news on the inbound flight.

"Do we need to purchase one more flight, or two? And also, what about all the things we've booked while we are there? Food and days out, etc. There's other money that's been spent. Will that be part of the compensation or is it just the flight?"

Mr Harris said he had paid in advance for tickets to see a football match, for nights in a hotel and for shows, so he was determined to get to the city.

"Whether there are other flights available due to this issue with other operators I'm not sure," he said.

"We've looked at the different times and flights. And car park bookings, does that get cancelled? Do we have to go through a different airport? There's so many factors at this moment."

Elaine Jones tweeted Sky to say: "Got an email very late last night to cancel my Ryan Air flights to Rome, livid."

Jez Myers said on Twitter: "Live chat down. Call centre shut. No email contact. It's going well!"

Several internet memes are circulating on Twitter mocking the airline's advertising campaigns and reputation for adding extras on to a passenger's bill.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has apologised and promised a "a full refund" to customers.

He has said all of those affected will be "entitled to their EU261 compensation entitlements" if they are not satisfied with alternative flights offered.

He said the problem had been caused by over-allocation of holidays to pilots during September and October as well as strikes and weather disruptions.