Chaos in UK's airports as ALL gates go down in Border Force 'IT glitch' sparking enormous queues - with Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and Manchester known to be hit so far

There is chaos at airports across the UK after all gates went down - with a Border Force IT glitch. 

Pictures on social media show enormous queues in front of the gates at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and Manchester as thousands are waiting for their passports to be checked.

Heathrow staff reportedly told those in the queues that it was a nationwide IT problem.

One waiting passenger told MailOnline that she has been waiting in the queue for an hour and that airport staff has started handing out water.

She said that people were told that the airport was working on a contingency to check passenger's documents.

Manchester Airport said in a statement to the Manchester Evening News: 'We are aware of an issue with UK Border Force's systems across the country, affecting a significant number of airports.

'Our Resilience Team and customer services colleagues are supporting passengers while UK Border Force and the Home Office fix the issue.'

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.