Passengers travelling through Northern Ireland have been warned to expect disruption after a technical problem at a Nats air traffic control centre affected flights on Monday.

Belfast International Airport said some services were delayed and urged passengers to check their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport.

The airport said: "We are currently experiencing some delays to flights due to a Nats air traffic control issue.

"Passengers who are due to travel should check with their airline for latest information on their flight status.

"If you do not have a confirmed flight, please do not travel to the airport."

The disruption has also affected EasyJet services, with the airline raising concerns about the reliability of Nats' systems after another air traffic control issue earlier this month. EasyJet said the latest problem at the Prestwick centre had resulted in delays and meant some flights were unable to operate.

The airline said: "A Nats air traffic control system failure in its Prestwick centre is causing delays to flights with some unable to operate.

"This, once again, calls into question the resilience of Nats' systems and demonstrates the need for firm actions to prevent these repeated failures.

"We will do all we can minimise the impact of this for our customers and advise anyone due to fly today to check our flight tracker for the latest information."

Nats said its engineers were investigating the fault at its Prestwick centre.

A spokesman said: "Our engineers are continuing to investigate the issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland.

"Airports south of Manchester are broadly unaffected, however flights heading north and flights departing Scottish airports are currently subject to some delay.

"Passengers should check with their airlines. This is unrelated to the issue two weeks ago. We apologise for the disruption."