THE weather in the Canary Islands was a balmy 20 degrees Celsius – or 68 degrees Fahrenheit – yesterday.
But that only made it worse for the hundreds of passengers left stranded at East Midlands Airport.
With 19cm (nearly eight inches) of snow falling in Notts across the weekend, the airport wasn't the only place affected by the bad weather - but it was one of the hardest hit.
John and Joan Fritchley, both 52 and from Nottingham, saw their 6.45am flight to Fuerteventura cancelled.
John said: "We were here at 3.40am and we had to wait until noon. We asked if we could change to the Birmingham flight as soon as we got here – before they cancelled – but they told us to wait, and now it's too late."
Joan added: "Our 12-day holiday looks like it could be cut down to eight days."
Nicky Brown, 45, her husband Glyn, 53, and their son Alex, 10, from Nottingham, had also been due to fly out to Fuerteventura with Ryanair.
Nicky said: "This is the first time we've had to cancel and it's been a dreadful experience. Nobody wants to help, and the holiday is ruined."
In total, 11 flights were cancelled across the weekend.
Kayleigh Starbuck, 22, from Nottingham city centre, saw her flight to Milan cancelled yesterday morning.
She said: "This is the first time I've gone on holiday abroad. I know what people mean about airports now."
Roommate Natalie Dickson, 25, added: "We are going on a trip to a few cities, and not getting to Milan today means we'll miss our flights to Prague and Paris as well."
"It's really frustrating – I don't know why they bothered to check us in. They must have known by the weather that it was going to be cancelled.
"This time last year I was having a barbecue at my auntie's house. You'd think it'd be safe to book flights for March."
Isabelle Giazzi, 68, from Nottingham, was trying to head off to visit family in Italy.
She said: "It's chaos. We got here early because we thought there may be problems."
Some passengers, including Stephen Pritchard, 50, from Barnsley, complained that bags from cancelled flights had been left out in the snow for people to collect, saying it was "appalling".
No-one from the airport was available to comment on that claim. The runways were reopened at noon, and a spokesman said: "Obviously the cancellations have had a knock on effect and many flights have been delayed."
Elsewhere there was disruption to bus services, although most city routes were running normally by noon yesterday; and yesterday's Nottinghamshire Motorcycle Charity Easter Egg Run was cancelled.
Farmers continue to be hit by the weather.
Keith Wallbank, 42, whose family has been farming dairy cows in Langley Mill for more than 40 years, said: "A year ago yesterday I was turning cattle away for grazing in the summer.
"This year we're nowhere near that, I've had to buy 500 bails to keep them inside for another 30 days."The farming industry is being hit harder than ever and this weather is just another thing which is crippling us. This job is becoming more and more unviable."
