Germany: Flooding disrupts flights at Frankfurt Airport

Due to heavy rainfall over Frankfurt, dozens of flights were canceled at Germany's largest airport on Wednesday.

By late evening, large amounts of water had been collected in areas of the runway, leaving passengers stuck on planes that had landed, but unable to disembark.

A video from the airport circulated on social media, showing planes parked in significant standing water, while lightning flashed in the background.

According to the Frankfurt Airport website, some 70 flights had been canceled as a result of the inclement weather.

For more than two hours, ground handling was brought to a standstill, an airport spokesman confirmed.

In terms of take-offs and landings, Frankfurt Airport shuts down at 11 p.m. local time (2100 UTC) but under exceptional circumstances such as Wednesday's, this can be extended to midnight to ease delays, cancellations and congestion the following day.

More than 23 planned arrivals were diverted away from Frankfurt, mid-air, due to the night flight ban and the flooded situation on the ground.