England Lions stars have revealed explosions were ‘going off’ all around them as their tour was cut short amid their nightmare visit to Abu Dhabi. 

James Coles, from Sussex, who plays for the national team, explained how the squad had been staying in the United Arab Emirates’ city for three weeks as part of a tour. 

‘The whole side was stuck out there – about 40 of us, including support staff, rammed into the same hotel,’ he told the Daily Mail. 

Of their stay at the Yas Crowne Plaza, he added: ‘We could hear explosions going off around us – it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience.

‘We were supposed to be out there another ten days or so, but we obviously couldn’t play any cricket, so we’ve come back early.’

It comes as another wave of relieved Brits arrived back at Heathrow from the warzone this afternoon. 

The first evacuation flight from the Middle Eastern country arrived at London’s biggest airport last night.  

Today, anxious families clutched flowers and balloons as they waited to be reunited with their loved ones, who had been through a ‘horrific’ ordeal.

Emirates and Etihad Airways are operating just five UK-bound flights from the Middle East compared to the dozens they usually run every day. 

British Airways and Qatar Airways have cancelled all of their timetabled flights between the Middle East and the UK as airspaces remain closed. 

LONDON: Jeff and Rebecca Moses from Manchester, who were staying in Fairmont Bab Al Bahr hotel 

Lydia Welch (pictured with her father in Heathrow) said strikes had been every ‘morning, afternoon, evening, [and] midnight’ when she visited her cousin in Abu Dhabi

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has launched a fresh swipe at Sir Keir Starmer as he said the Prime Minister was ‘not Winston Churchill’. 

The US President continued to vent his anger after the UK leader initially refused to allow American bombers to use British bases such as Diego Garcia to attack Iran. 

In Iran, the building where the next new supreme leader is chosen, the Assembly of Experts complex in the city of Qom, was flattened by Israeli and US strikes, local media has reported. 

Elsewhere in Heathrow, Lynda Welch, 27, was greeted with a big hug from her father as she arrived back from Abu Dhabi after visiting her cousin.  

‘The strikes have been every day – morning, afternoon, evening, midnight,’ she said. ‘Everyone got woken up at 3 am. They were going off for half an hour.’  

‘I never thought that I would experience a missile getting intercepted,’ she added, while explaining the UAE booked her a flight home ‘straight away’.

‘They’ve been very good. But my cousin and my boyfriend are still out there, so I’m quite stressed about that.’

Arta Xhemaili, 35, from Leeds, was travelling in the Middle East with her friend when the strikes started.

‘We’re still in shock – we can’t believe we’re back,’ she said. ‘We had travelled from Oman and were supposed to have a layover in Abu Dhabi.

‘We got woken up by two missiles near our hotel at 3 o’clock last night. The phone alerts are so scary.

‘We went and hid in the bathroom, then went to the lobby to be closer to the exit… It was so surreal.’

Earlier today, Hafsa and Shamshed Ali nervously waited for their son, Ahmad, 12, who had been in Dubai alone for the last three nights.  

Ahmad was embraced by his parents as well as his little sister Noor, eight, when he arrived at the terminal at Heathrow. 

‘My 12-year-old son, Ahmad, was in Pakistan with his uncle. We were waiting for his Visa, but it came late,’ Ms Ali explained. 

‘As soon as it arrived, we booked him a flight home on Emirates, using the children’s service.

‘When we realised he would be delayed in Dubai, it was terrifying. We saw on social media what was going on.’

‘I was crying and praying as I looked at social media and the news. It was so scary.

Ahmad Ali, 12, is greeted by his mum, Hafsa, after arriving at Terminal 3 of London Heathrow Airport from Pakistan via Dubai

Emotional scenes as Ghislaine Norman greets her two daughter Paris and Rihanna,30 and 28, arriving back at Heathrow from Dubai

DUBAI: The Pattni family from Leicester who were caught up in the drone attacks. They are now hoping to be able to board a flight home to the UK 

LONDON: Cath and Dom after she touched back down at Heathrow after staying in the UAE

DUBAI: Accountants Greg Coull, 35 and John Barndell, 37, who are hoping to fly back home today from Dubai 

‘The most horrific thing was that he was alone. But the Emirates cared for him so well. 

‘There were always staff at the hotel with him, playing games with him, watching Netflix. We were able to speak to him on a video call.

‘We didn’t sleep at all for three nights,’ Mr Ali said. ‘He was so brave. We’re very proud of him.’

Ghislaine Norman was visibly shaken as she waited for her two daughters, Paris, 38, and Rihanna, 28.

‘Paris and Rhianna were on a connecting flight from the Philippines, they were going to be diverted to another airport as they were coming into land on the Saturday.

‘But then they landed in Dubai and were supposed to get a flight out a couple of hours later,’ Ms Norman added.

‘They told them the airport was closed. It turned into a stampede there – it was chaos. 

‘They were so exhausted by it all, they ended up falling asleep. At midnight on Saturday, they were woken up to be evacuated, because the airport had been hit. 

‘There was smoke everywhere. They ended up getting on a bus and taken to a hotel about five miles from the airport.’

Tearing up, Ms Norman said: ‘They were distraught. I can’t even express how I felt as a parent. It was awful.’

Kate, 47, from Australia, was travelling to the UK for work when she became embroiled in the chaos. 

 ‘I arrived Saturday, so I spent three nights there,’ she said. ‘I arrived at 2pm – and then we were told the planes weren’t going to be able to leave that night.

‘There were explosions every day. We were getting emergency messages at night, an alarm going off telling us to take shelter.

‘It screeches at you, and then you get a message saying the threat had gone. It felt terrible. I’m just here for work.’

LONDON: Isabel Robertson (pictured), 29, from Windsor, Berkshire, was greeted with a hug from mother Alba as she landed on Monday

Jessica Tennant, 30, from Lincoln, who has been on a two-week holiday to the UAE with her young children, said: ‘It has been incredibly stressful. 

‘We have heard absolutely nothing (from the Government or airlines). We have had no updates. We are checking the news hourly because we have not been told anything.

‘We flew with Emirates and we’ve had no contact at all. We are due to fly on Thursday but we have no idea if that is going ahead.’

Grandmother Mina Pattni, 62 and her family were staying at the Fairmont Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah, which was hit by either a drone or debris, starting a fire.

‘It was absolutely terrifying,’ said Mina, from Leicester. ‘We were just sitting down to eat on Saturday night when we heard some interceptions of drones or missiles in the air.

‘That was scary enough, but just as we ordered, there was this terrific bang and we could see that the side of the building had been hit and everyone was evacuated until the fire was extinguished.’

Mina was travelling with her husband Latash, 67, and their daughter and son in law and two grandsons Krish, two and 5-month-old Rohin.

‘The children were very frightened,’ said Mina. ‘They picked up the slightly panicky mood from the other guests, though the hotel staff were very good and still managed to serve cold food, even though the gas in the hotel had to be turned off.

‘With our flight home on Sunday cancelled, we decided to stay with a relative in Dubai, mainly so that the children would be in a calmer atmosphere.’

Like several other Brits congregated outside Terminal 3 at DXB this morning, the Pattnis hoped to make it on an Emirates flight to Heathrow, or possibly a later one to Gatwick.

Travellers were corralled outside the busy Emirates terminal waiting to be called forward for their flights, heading mostly for Russia and the Indian sub-continent, but with a few headed for the UK and Europe.

Many of the people laden down with luggage in the throng were critical of poor communications from the airline, but said they couldn’t fault the hotels where they had to extend their stays.

Father and son James, 18 and Jim Dixon, 61 from Leicester were due to fly back to the UK from Dubai on Saturday afternoon, and after checking in, they were held at the airport for five hours before being moved to a hotel to begin the long wait.

Ahmad Ali, 12, is reunited with his family after being stuck in Dubai for three nights by himself 

LONDON: The Etihad Airways plane landed at Heathrow Terminal 4 at 7.16pm, bringing back the first group of stranded Brits. Pictured: Marika Citrone, from Newcastle 

DUBAI: Dubai Airport this morning as passengers queue to board flights out of the warzone

DUBAI: Thousands of passengers are currently stranded at Dubai Airport 

LONDON: Brits arrive back in Heathrow last night

‘The communication hasn’t been great, to be honest,’ said Jim. ‘We’ve had more information from people back home, but I do understand it’s a pretty exceptional situation.

‘His mum is fretting a bit, but we’ve reassured her that it’s not so bad. It doesn’t feel like a war zone, really. We were in a nice hotel, and it was fairly relaxed.

‘The hotel told us that Emirates had told us to come here today and get on a flight to Heathrow. We hope we’ll be back today, but if not, we’ll see what happens.’

Accountants John Barndell, 37 from London and Greg Coull, 35 from Edinburgh had been on a business trip to India and were only supposed to be in transit at Dubai to change flights.

‘We were well taken care of by the airline and the hotel, though the comms could definitely have been better,’ said John.

‘We just want to get any flight to Europe – we’ll go anywhere,’ he said. ‘If we had been an hour earlier or two hours later, we’d have probably made it back to London.’

Another resident who works in Abu Dhabi added: ‘All I could hear last night at around 3am was a crumpling noise of the missiles being intercepted. 

‘When you look at of the window now, the construction work is still going on, and people are heading out and about. 

‘We have been told to work from home, but there is an element of normalcy still.’

Pictured: Jesscia Tennant, 30, from Lincoln who has been in the UAE with her family 

The Fairmont Palm hotel in Dubai was hit over the weekend as tourist areas were hit by Iran

DUBAI: Passengers at Dubai Airport this morning

Liam Pearson, from London, who is on holiday with his partner in Dubai, said his family were outside on Saturday when the strikes began and ‘you could feel the atmosphere change’. 

He said: ‘Two days ago the pool was packed and there were two very loud bangs above our heads, and you could see the cloud strikes, and that vacated very quickly. 

‘We are due to be getting out of here tomorrow, we’ve checked in but Dubai Airport is saying it is cancelled. 

‘They can’t evict you from the hotel which is great but the problem is we have to cover those costs, especially if my insurance isn’t valid.’

An Etihad Airways flight also landed at Heathrow last night from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport. 

Isabel, who previously lived in Dubai, had been due to fly home to the UK on Saturday but her flight was cancelled.

She said: ‘I went to see my friends. I had such a great week. I had meant to have been leaving on Saturday. My friend was going to drive me to the airport.

‘I was like ‘Why has my flight been cancelled?’ Ten minutes later I could hear an explosion.’

Chaos at airports across the Gulf, including Dubai (pictured), as Iran hit back with drone and missile strikes, stranding 102,000 Brits in a region where 300,000 people from the UK live

DUBAI: Father and son Jim, 61, and  James,18, from Leicester are pictured at Dubai Airport trying to get home

She added: ‘There were explosions this morning. It has been terrifying, like honestly, terrifying.

‘The noises, it was terrifying, the explosions. I used to live there and it was my first time back in three years.’ 

Amy Maguire, 23, was also on the eight-hour flight back after going on holiday with her baby daughter Anabel and her parents.

She said: ‘It has been horrifying.

‘It has been really difficult not knowing if your child is safe. The sounds have been horrendous. We had to go in this little room under the hotel.’

Fay McCaul, 41, who was due to leave the UAE for London on Saturday, said ‘sirens started going off’ and people were told ‘to stay away from windows because of potential missile strikes’ when she was waiting for her flight.

She said: ‘It was just taking ages to board, with no announcements, so we didn’t know what was going on.

‘And then after the boarding time sirens started going off in the airport and everyone started receiving texts on their phones with alarm signals to stay away from windows because of potential missile strikes. 

‘So then it was pretty chaotic, and the airline obviously didn’t know what was going on either.’

The London-bound flight had been delayed by just over an hour.

Joseph Hughes, 31, described the mood on board as ‘nervy’ and ‘very quiet’ as the plane closed in on European airspace.

He and his partner had been stranded in the UAE since Saturday after he was transferred to Abu Dhabi when his initial flight back from Qatar was cancelled due to a technical problem.

He spent two days in a hotel watching missiles being intercepted overhead.

The Foreign Office has advised against travel to all countries currently under attack, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

Brits already in these countries have been urged to ‘immediately shelter in place’ as Iran continues retaliatory strikes following Saturday’s air assault that killed its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

The UK government is currently advising against all travel to Iran and Israel. It says anyone travelling to Cyprus should ‘take sensible precautions’ and follow the advice of local authorities, and advises against all travel to parts of Egypt.

For holidaymakers hoping to go to Turkey, officials currently advise against all travel to ‘within 10km of the border with Syria’ due to ‘fighting and a heightened risk of terrorism’.

Analytics company Cirium said 1,555 out of 5,340 flights scheduled to operate to the Middle East on Monday were cancelled.

This included 735 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 255 to Qatar.

About half a million passengers use airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi each day.

Several Middle Eastern airports act as hubs for passengers travelling between the UK and destinations in Asia and Australia.

At Sydney, hundreds of passengers have been sleeping overnight after having their flights cancelled.

Flights between the UK and Cyprus have also been affected, with easyJet axing two inbound and two outbound flights connecting Paphos with Gatwick and Manchester, and one inbound and one outbound flight between Larnaca and Gatwick.