Mum desperate to get scared daughter home from Dubai

A mother has described how her daughter spent the night texting her from a hotel foyer in Dubai after seeing bombs "blowing up overhead" amid the conflict in the Middle East.

The British Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE after Iran responded to strikes by the US and Israel.

Susan Moss, from Wolverhampton, said her daughter Sophie got stuck in Dubai after initially going on a four-day sunshine break with a friend.

Sophie, from Tamworth, is among people in the city who have seen missiles being intercepted overhead and is now worried about travelling to the airport.

"It's just awful out there, said Moss. "She is just so scared."

Some British nationals stranded in the Middle East are due to be flown home later on Wednesday as Iranian missile and drone attacks against the Gulf continue to ground flights.

In Dubai, some have managed to book on flights out, amid competition for seats.

"Luckily I have managed to book her a flight for Thursday morning and we're just hoping she gets on that," said Moss.

Among those who have also booked flights is Trevor Davies and wife Lisa, also from Tamworth, who went to Dubai to celebrate her birthday.

Mr Davies told BBC Radio WM on Wednesday: "Last night there were more missiles and as a result of that we decided we're not going to wait until Sunday when our British Airways flight is re-scheduled [to].

"It is just too scary. "

He said after "hours and hours and hours" on the telephone they managed to get a flight home with Emirates to Manchester for Friday.

"We just want to get home now," he said.

He said they had seen missiles intercepted too.

"You could see them [missiles] being taken out and the one that we saw that was very close, virtually overhead, that got took out," he said.

"And then we decided this is just too dangerous and we just couldn't wait until Sunday."

Davies added other hotel guests "are all scared and everyone we speak to wants to get home."

"Staff are trying to keep the morale high but the hotels have moved to dynamic pricing and when you re-book the pricing just goes through the roof."

He added they were having to pay about £550 a night for each extra night.

Moss added her daughter and her friend were apprehensive about flying and travelling to the airport "because it was bombed and all that is at the back of their minds."

They were coping by exercising, including doing yoga.

"As a mum I just want her home," she said.

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