Others still do not know when they will return to the UK.
Just reaching Miami International Airport after a two-week holiday had been an ordeal for Holly Lloyd’s family, as their route took them past raging bush fires.
“The road opened with flames at the side of the road as we drove through and was closing behind us,” said Ms Lloyd from Cambridgeshire, who was travelling with her four-year-old daughter, elderly parents and husband.
After making the flight with seconds the spare, they boarded the plane and sat on the tarmac for nearly three hours before being told the flight had been cancelled, Ms Lloyd said.
Virgin Atlantic offered “no help,” she added, “just a letter basically telling us to sort ourselves out and they should refund”.
The family found a hotel room at 02:00 local time (06:00 GMT).
But they still have no idea when they will get a flight home.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said Heathrow’s closure had a “significant impact” on its flights on Friday, but that it expected to operate “a near full schedule” on Saturday.
“We’re incredibly sorry for the disruption this will cause and are working with our teams to ensure customers can complete their journeys as quickly as possible.”
It asked customers not to travel to the airport and to check their flight status online, adding impacted customers had ben emailed with their options.
