The worst flight ever? British Airways service from Berlin to London takes seven hours – but ends up where it started

A British Airways flight from Berlin to Heathrow took off five hours late yesterday, but then turned around within sight of the UK coast and returned to the German capital leaving around 180 passengers stranded.

Flight BA983 was one of many disrupted by Sunday's heavy snowfall, but passengers on the afternoon service will feel particularly hard done by.

The Airbus A320 was due to depart Berlin Tegel at 1.50pm but was delayed due to the weather conditions on the continent. It eventually took off at 6.57pm and made its way towards London.

However, just as it was half way across the North Sea and less than a hour from Heathrow, it performed a U-turn and flew back to Berlin, where it landed an hour later.

One passenger posted a photo on Twitter of an on-board TV screen showing the flight path, with the caption: "Nightmare."

A spokesperson for British Airways said: "When [we] are not able to operate flights into Heathrow as planned, we do our best to keep customers updated, and look after them, providing refreshments and hotel accommodation."

Reduced capacity at Heathrow as heavy snow fell on Sunday meant a number of British Airways flights were forced to divert to airports including Leeds and Newcastle, while other aircraft were held in holding patterns above the UK waiting for a window to land.

"We are working with Heathrow and Air Traffic Control to operate as many of our flights as possible into the airport. Safety is always our priority, especially when dealing with very challenging weather conditions," the spokesperson added.

"We understand this is a frustrating time, but our teams are working around the clock to ensure we get customers to their destinations quickly, but safely.​​"