A flight full of holidaymakers returning to the Newcastle from Tunisia was diverted to Manchester on Friday (July 21) after circling over the North East.

The TUI flight, codenamed TOM589, took off from the Tunisian airport of Enfidha shortly before 12.20pm local time headed for Newcastle Airport.

The plane continued its journey as normal and began its descent ready to land at Newcastle Airport around three hours later.

But the Boeing 737 then circled over County Durham before diverting to Manchester Airport.

TUI said the diversion was due to “unfavourable” weather conditions, although the flight was the only one to divert from Newcastle on Friday.

A spokesperson for the airline said: “We’d like to apologise to customers on flight TOM589 who were delayed getting home from Tunisia due to unfavourable weather conditions at Newcastle Airport.

“The flight was diverted into Manchester, where it refuelled, before returning to Newcastle when the weather cleared. 

“We understand how frustrating delays are for customers, and we’d like to thank them for their patience and understanding.”

It comes days after an AerLingus flight from Dublin to Newcastle had to return to the Irish capital after suffering a technical issue.