Azhar Kabli, a Saudi studying in Yorkshire city of Sheffield, was hoping to come to the Kingdom to see family, but the flight was canceled. “After a six-hour journey by car from Sheffield to Heathrow, I found myself stuck with no information about my flight,” said Kabli.

Kabli canceled her trip to Saudi Arabia because she was unsure how long the delay would continue. “It is so irritating. I called Saudia office and they assured me that everything is on schedule,” she said.

On arrival at the airport, Kabli was not even allowed to enter the terminal because her flight had not been confirmed. She called the airline's office and was advised to reschedule her flight to Thursday. She, however, decided to cancel the trip as her holiday would be too short.

Hundreds of flights have been delayed or canceled and leaving many passengers stranded at Heathrow. Passengers have been camping at the airport after planes were grounded by some of the UK’s most severe winter in a century.

Rawan Bakur, a 27-year-old student in London, is trapped at the airport with no clue whether she will be able to fly back to Jeddah to attend her brother’s wedding.

“I was meant to travel on Monday and called the airline, they told me my flight was on schedule. When I got to the airport my flight was delayed and they booked me on a Tuesday flight which was supposed to leave in the morning,” she said, adding that she was unable to board the flight because the Saudi Airlines desk suddenly closed saying the flight had taken off.

“After all this time waiting, Saudi Airlines told us the flight has taken off and those who couldn't make it to the elevator fast enough were left behind. Then, the airline didn't even bother giving us any explanations. They only said they shut because they received an order from police to evacuate," she added.

Bakur added that Heathrow’s Terminal 3 is in chaos. “I heard on the radio that hotel prices have increased from £70 to £130 a night because of those delays and some people have been stranded in hotels for five days,” she said.

“I have been standing here for six hours and I’m still not sure whether I will be able to fly back home. I am not the only one here who is suffering. I spoke to a couple flying back to Jeddah for their wedding on Thursday and are stuck now,” said Bakur.

According to information on the airport’s website, Heathrow will be operating around one third of its normal flights until 6 a.m. on Thursday. However, the airport’s operator, BAA, said two-thirds of flights into and out of Britain’s largest airport would be canceled until at least Wednesday morning because it only has resources to keep one of its two runways open.

Abdullah Hakeem, a 25-year-old student in London, said he stayed at the airport for seven hours before being told his flight had been canceled. “It was a nightmare sitting there not knowing whether I will be able to see my family especially since I haven’t been back to the Kingdom for more than a year now. My rental agreement has ended and so all my stuff is in storage. When my flight was canceled, I went to a hotel close to Heathrow and found the prices unreasonable and so I called some friends to find a place to stay,” he said.

Hakeem said he rescheduled his flight to Friday hoping the matter will be resolved by then. “I’m staying at a friend’s house now and I’ve thought about canceling my whole trip but I really want to go back home and get away from this weather,” he added.

Experts said that what is making it difficult for flights to operate is that snow was melting on the runways in the daytime and then freezing at night. When it starts to thaw again, water trickles down and becomes much more difficult to clear. More flights are expected to operate over the next few days but no one knows exactly when.