A holiday maker on board the plane that skidded off the runway as Storm Babet swept across the country has described the 'white-knuckle' landing.

Val Kearton and Barry Davison, from Eggleston, near Barnard Castle, were on the TUI flight from Corfu that came to a standstill on boggy grassland at Leeds Bradford Airport on Friday.

The Boeing 737-800, which landed in strong winds at 1.53pm, was unable to stop on the runway and churned through the earth leaving soil spattered all over the plane.

Read more: Storm Babet causes disruption and damage across the North East

The Northern Echo: The wing was covered in mud after landing The wing was covered in mud after landing (Image: Val Kearton)The Northern Echo: Emergency services rush helped after the unorthodox landing Emergency services rush helped after the unorthodox landing (Image: PA)The Northern Echo: Val Kearton Val Kearton (Image: Contributor)Val, a retired mother-of-one, said: “It was really cloudy on the last bit coming in.

“It was white. You could not see anything. You usually just come under it so the pilot would not have had the best view.  

“We were getting blown around. It was hard for them to keep it still so I thought they did a good job by landing.

“They had to brake at the last bit and we sort of skidded to a halt in the grass.

“When you looked out the windows there was soil across the window.

“The pilot came on the tannoy and said: ‘Right ladies and gentlemen. If you would just stay in your seats, I do not know where we will go from here’.”

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Emergency services, including fire engines and three ambulances, raced out to the plane, which was carrying 195 passengers.

There have been reports of some passengers claiming they did not think they would survive and others describing screaming but Val said she was quite relaxed about the incident – until she thought about it later.

She added: “It was not bad until we were over the UK, about ten minutes before we came down.

“He landed on the runway and then we veered off into the field. It churned quite a lot of soil up.

“At the time I was fine but it was only afterwards I got a bit of a shock.”

The Northern Echo: The plane came to rest on the runway The plane came to rest on the runway (Image: Newsquest)The Northern Echo: Part of the plane was on the ground Part of the plane was on the ground (Image: PA)The Northern Echo: Emergency services were on the scene Emergency services were on the scene (Image: Val Kearton)Airport authorities brought steps to the back of the plane and helped passengers off before offering them tea and crisps.

Val said she is back home now but has been unable to collect her luggage yet.

TUI said there were no reported injuries but airport was closed because of the adverse weather conditions.

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A statement from Leeds Bradford Airport said: “TUI flight BY 3551 operating from Corfu to Leeds Bradford suffered a runway excursion upon landing.

"All 195 passengers and crew on board disembarked safely with no reported injuries."