Thousands of holidaymakers have been left stranded after a major cyber attack caused chaos across Europe and the UK, leading to flight delays and cancellations. London Heathrow was among the airports hit hardest, with passengers facing hours-long queues as flights were either delayed or cancelled.

The European Union‘s cyber security agency has warned that criminals are using ransomware to cause mayhem at some of the continent’s busiest travel hubs.

Despite the disruption, Heathrow maintained on Sunday that “the vast majority of flights have continued to operate”.

However, this wasn’t the case for all travellers, including Rachel Waldrun, who had planned to fly from Heathrow to Lisbon.

The 41-year-old graphic designer from the West Midlands had intended to celebrate her birthday in Portugal, but instead found herself organising a staycation in Brighton.

Rachel, who rebooked via selfcatering.co.uk, told ReachPlc that being at Heathrow put her and her partner “in the eye of the storm”, reports the Mirror.

She described the scene at Heathrow as “chaos”, with people “everywhere on foot, in queues and sprawled on the floors, not a nice environment – stress and anxiety was palpable”.

She added: “We pivoted quite quickly because we knew that cyberattacks don’t get sorted very fast. Instead, we found a lovely two-bed cottage in Brighton. We can deal with the insurance claim later!”

Rachel revealed that although her birthday falls in July, they chose to travel abroad in September, outside of the peak school holiday period.

However, despite not being able to experience Portugal, they found Brighton to be a delightful alternative, thanks to its renowned Palace Pier, Royal Pavilion and Brighton 360.

Reflecting on how Brighton held its own against destinations like Lisbon, Rachel mused: “I’ll know I’ll get to Lisbon one day.

“At the time it was very disappointing but we strolled around shops, ate and drank at lovely and quirky places and enjoyed walking by the sea.

“It was different to what I had expected and certainly different to the trip we had in mind…but Brighton over Lisbon? On this occasion hell yes. Beats the queues at Heathrow any day.”

Rachel’s choice of Brighton as her UK substitute for Lisbon follows warnings from the head of the pier she visited, stating that the city needed to do more to draw tourists if it was to thrive.

Anne Ackord, CEO of the Brighton Pier Group, cautioned that the city was failing to acknowledge the significance of tourism, stressing that “incisive action” was necessary.

She told the BBC: “There is a lack of recognition in this city about how important tourism is, and we risk having a very difficult future unless all get together to take incisive action. We all need to attract people here and not assume they’ll just come.”