Air travel across the UK was severely disrupted Tuesday after a technical failure at air traffic control provider Nats led to widespread cancellations and delays affecting airports in Britain and beyond, according to the BBC.

FlightRadar24 reported that at least 1,000 flights to and from the UK had been cancelled. EasyJet cancelled around 200 flights, while British Airways cancelled more than 100.

The disruption also affected routes between London and Israel. Among the affected flights was El Al flight LY317 from Tel Aviv to Heathrow Airport, which was canceled Tuesday evening. As a result, the return flight, LY318 from Heathrow to Ben Gurion Airport, was also canceled.

Wizz Air passengers traveling to Israel were also affected. A flight from Gatwick to Tel Aviv that was scheduled to depart in the afternoon was canceled after passengers spent approximately three hours waiting on board the aircraft. One passenger told the PA news agency that the airline's next flight to Tel Aviv is not expected until Saturday.

Nats said Tuesday evening that its flight systems were beginning to recover, but the disruption continued to affect operations. With relatively few aircraft able to depart, restrictions were placed on incoming traffic, resulting in some flights being held at airports overseas.

The problem affected airports across the UK, with disruption also reported in Scotland and Ireland. Ryanair, Europe's busiest airline, said earlier that more than 65,000 passengers had experienced delays of up to eight hours.

Heathrow was among the airports hardest hit. Departures were suspended around lunchtime before briefly resuming, only for further disruption to emerge during the afternoon. The airport was understood to have run out of capacity for arriving aircraft because planes were unable to leave.

Thirteen flights bound for Heathrow were diverted to airports elsewhere in the UK and Europe.

FlightRadar24 identified Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham as the UK's worst-affected airports, estimating that about 4% of flights in the country had been cancelled or delayed because of the technical problem.

Airports around the country advised passengers to verify their flight status before setting out, while airlines urged affected travelers to contact them for updates.