First Brits touch down at Manchester Airport after becoming stranded in Dubai
The US-Iran war has left the skies above much of the Middle East closed
A British tourist told how she saw an Iranian drone being taken down in flames after stepping onto her hotel balcony in Dubai.
Emily Bexon, 31, from Nantwich, Cheshire, had stepped outside while her mother slept indoors when she saw the explosion.
Ms Bexon had been on holiday with her mother Judy and spoke on returning to the UK on an Emirates flight from Dubai to Manchester with dozens of other travellers relieved to be back in the UK.
She said: "I was just on the balcony, and I was stupidly outside, and you could just see... orange, and then a flash and then you hear it.
"I just ran in to her."
Judy Bexon said: "She was very upset, wanted to tell me, and I was fast asleep."
They were at the hotel after their flight was cancelled on Saturday as they were about to board the plane home.
Mrs Bexon added: "Looking at some of the news, I think we're very lucky to be back actually.
"I hope everybody else gets home as well."
Michelle Hamilton, from Glasgow, was with her eight-year-old twin daughters, Charlotte and Lucy, and was in Dubai for a stopover en route to Auckland to join her husband Dan Cullen in New Zealand.
"But Saturday, I had a phone call from home to say the airspace had been closed," she said.
"And so I think the first night was probably a little bit frightening, because you're not used to it, so there was a lot of sirens going off on your phone, a lot of people running about in the hotel to see what it meant.
"And a lot of banging, like, constant banging.
"I think it would be the anti-missile defence system going off, so you could just hear sort of a lot of banging.
"I think you just... unsure as to what it is that's creating the noise, and so you're sort of unsure how to protect yourself, as in, if it's something that's going to cause a lot of blast, shrapnel.
"You're just not used to it.
"We just packed a grab bag so that if we needed to run, we had our passports and some water and things like that. And then it just really went on and off like that."
Mrs Hamilton decided instead of hoping and waiting for an onward flight she would return to the UK.
She added: "Well, if you gambled that you might get a flight to Auckland and things escalated, and you passed up the possibility of getting on a flight and bringing your children, essentially out of a war zone, it's a difficult decision to make."
Satwinder Samra, from Sheffield, was awaiting the arrival of his wife, Emily England, who had been working in Dubai.
Mr Samra said: "She was supposed to fly back on Saturday, but then the flights got cancelled, and then we'd been waiting, we'd been very anxious and very worried.
"But we're really pleased that the flight has just landed.
"And we have nothing but praise for the airline, the governments, of all the countries that have sort of made sure that ... loved ones get back home safe and sound.
"She would tell us on the phone that she'd heard sort of explosions and things happening, but generally, she felt really safe.
"And what this is, what this makes you realise is that conflict can start at any time in any part of the world.
"And so we're blessed that we are fortunate enough that she's been able to return home safely."
David and Rachel Brookfield from Tickhill, near Doncaster, were staying in Dubai following a holiday in New Zealand.
Rachel, 59, said: "We were watching the airstrikes on the news and social media and it looked worse than what we saw.
"It was scary and we were getting missile alerts on our phones"
David added: "We were on the 62nd floor so when the alerts went off, we had to dive down into the lobby.
"That was scary and you could hear explosions and the windows would rattle.
"I just feel so lucky that we got on this plane.
"We were taxiing on the runway and we were the only plane there.
"We were on the runway for about 10 minutes, and I thought we going to be turned back.
"I'm just glad to be home."
Roy Woodhead, 66, from Sheffield, was on a stopover from Singapore.
He said: "You could hear gunshots and missiles landing but we couldn't see anything.
"I have friends who were staying in a different location and they could see the drones and missiles. It must have been very scary for them.
"I was only supposed to be staying for a few days and had my initial flight cancelled at the last minute while in the airport.
"Then someone else asked if I was flying to Manchester and told me of this flight.
"I feel lucky to get on it.
"I am going home to have a pint of John Smith's!"