A group of 18 Chinese tourists that was stuck in England when severe weather closed that country's main airport last week was expected to finally return to Beijing on the weekend after several extra days in London.

They were among many tourists from Beijing who became stranded when heavy snow blanketed Europe, said Phoebe Wang, an employee with UK-based Omega Travel, a leading travel agency and tour operator.

According to Wang, the 18-person group should have flown out with British Airways on Dec 20 but the flight out of Heathrow was cancelled because of the extreme weather.

Wang said they were left to scramble for another flight but the large size of the group made it difficult for them to find space on one plane and the group was split into two.

Tens of thousands of people slept on floors at the airport and the Beijing tourists spent some extra nights in a London hotel.

Tourists traveling alone and not as part of tour groups had similar experiences, thanks to the weather delays.

Li Jieming, 21, who is studying for her degree in the United States, arrived on her first ever trip to the UK on Dec 17.

She had planned to return to China via Amsterdam but her KLM flight was cancelled due to heavy snow.

"There were so many stranded Chinese students in the departure hall of Heathrow Airport Terminal 4," said Li.

She ended up limping back last week via Dubai.

Another Chinese passenger, who asked not to be named, was part of a 22-member group of business people that was in the UK.

Their Air China flight was cancelled last weekend because of the heavy snow and they spent several days stranded at the airport.

He estimated that several hundred Chinese people who had been booked on flights with several carriers were stranded at Heathrow during the temporary closure of the runways.

He said most members of his group ended up spending a lot of money to get other flights out of the airport when the weather eased.

Li Qiang, 30, and his wife Liu Lei, were scheduled to fly back to Beijing on Dec 27 but were worried about whether that would happen because forecasters were predicting another 15 cm of snow would be dumped on the UK on Sunday.

The couple, who work in London, often fly back to China to visit family or for business.

Li said his flight was delayed by two days because of the volcanic ash cloud over Iceland back in April.

At that time, all flights in and out of the UK and several other European countries were suspended.

"We don't know what the extent of it will be this time," Li said.

"But we do hope we will be able to get back to Beijing."

He said they were especially anxious because they wanted to see their 13-month-old baby.