Crowdstrike is responsible for the worldwide IT outage, affecting 8.5 million computers (Image: Getty)
Thousands of Britons remained stranded abroad yesterday after more flights were canceled in the wake of last week's worldwide IT crash – as Microsoft revealed 8.5 million computers were hit.
The initial mass-breakdown saw around 8,000 flights canceled or disrupted across the globe, including to and from the UK.
But while businesses and services around the world were slowly recovering yesterday, the knock-on effects of cancellations and delays were still dragging on.
As a result, thousands of Brits were left sleeping on airport floors over the weekend – both home and abroad – as the backlog of flights disruption was slowly dealt with.
Experts warned that it could take weeks for systems to fully recover – with more flight delays and cancellations expected in the coming days.
NHS England said additional disruption to GP appointments, pharmacies and prescriptions was also likely to continue into this week.
But the biggest fallout from the worldwide computer crash remained travel.
London Gatwick, Heathrow Airport, Manchester Airport and Belfast International Airport all warned they could still be affected in the coming days.
The airports said passengers should check with airlines for any delays or cancellations before traveling as things gradually return to normal.
And there were further delays and cancellations at Heathrow and Gatwick yesterday, leaving some travelers fuming.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Airlines could be facing backlogs of tens of thousands of passengers needing to be booked onto new flights.”
But airlines have been told they do not need to pay compensation to an estimated 80,000 affected by the incident.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it was likely to be viewed as “extraordinary circumstances”, for which the industry should not be financially liable.
Passengers stuck overseas were warned they may not be able to get home until Wednesday after flights going to, from or flying within the UK continued to be hit by the disruption.
It is understood that more than 20,000 Brits were stranded abroad over the weekend as airlines fought to deal with the backlog.
Lorenzo Angiollilo told how he was supposed to fly from Bari in Italy to Edinburgh but his flight was cancelled.
His next plane was then forced to land in Milan because it ran out of fuel. He took a flight to London, where he was waiting for his onward flight to Edinburgh.
“The airport staff got me onto another flight but that was delayed five hours as well, so I spent eight hours altogether waiting at the airport,” he said.
“We eventually got on the plane to London Stansted around midnight. But there wasn't enough fuel to get there so we diverted to Milan.
“We were on the ground for around an hour and tensions were getting high, people were getting angry. It was quite close to a physical confrontation.
“I arrived at Stansted around 4am this morning and coming through arrivals, through baggage claim, there were hundreds of bags just laying there – not even on conveyor belts. There were hundreds sleeping on the floor.”
In the UK's departure lounges, beleaguered holidaymakers also faced long queues and waits as they tried to fly abroad.
Traveler Emma Rowley told how she was stuck at Heathrow Airport for 10 hours trying to fly to Naples for her best friend's wedding – which she was eventually forced to miss.
She said: “I was at Heathrow for 10 hours yesterday waiting to fly, before our (supposedly morning) flight to Naples finally got canceled as the crew ran out of legal time to work.
“I got auto rebooked on a flight today to Rome then Naples – but woke up this morning to see that it had been canceled too.
“So my group of six are missing our friend's wedding in Italy which is this afternoon – really sad. Some flights got through to our destination, but there was absolutely no way of getting there for us – flights were either full or getting cancelled.
“For some reason the airport was absolutely boiling all day which didn't help. I don't know if that was related to the meltdown or just unfortunate.”
Authorities warned that disruption to pharmacy services is also likely to continue for the next few days, even when all systems are back online.
Pharmacies across the UK were swamped with a backlog of medicine deliveries over the weekend.
NHS sources said an estimated 60 per cent of GP practices were affected.
A spokesperson for NHS England said: “As practices recover from the loss of IT systems on Friday, there may be some continued disruption, particularly to GP services, in some areas into next week as practices work to rebook appointments.
“The advice for Monday remains that patients should attend appointments as normal unless told otherwise.”
The British Medical Association also warned that normal GP service “cannot be resumed immediately” because of a “considerable backlog”.
The trade union for doctors said GPs would “need time to catch up from lost work over the weekend”, adding that NHS England should “make clear to patients” this was the case.
National Cyber Security Center expert Professor Ciaran Martin also warned that fallout from the initial chaos could drag on for days.
He said: “The underlying problem is fixed and the fixes are being implemented.
“Some industries can recover quickly. But others like aviation will have long backlogs.
“That said, I'd be surprised if we were still facing serious problems this time next week.”
While businesses and services are slowly recovering after the massive IT outage at the end of last week – lawyers warned legal claims as a result could drag on for years.
Experts and the boss of the cyber-security firm responsible, CrowdStrike, also issued an alert that criminals may seek to exploit the IT issues as things return to normal. George Kurtz urged the millions affected “to remain vigilant”.
CrowdStrike has also told the Australian government it is close to an automatic fix which would allow all systems to return online.