Ministers are scrambling to evacuate up to 300,000 Britons trapped in the Gulf region, as the Middle East conflict intensifies. More than 100,000 tourists and people in transit, mainly based in the United Arab Emirates, have registered their contact details and locations with the British government. The closure of airports in Dubai and Qatar, alongside the shutting of airspace, have led officials to draw up contingency plans which could include shuttling people in buses for ten hours to Saudi Arabia.

This would allow people to jet home, if airspace in the region remains largely closed because of Iranian drone and missile strikes. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We set up a system for British citizens in the region to be able to register, to be able to tell us where they are.

“So we know where they are and can give people updated information in a situation that really is rapidly evolving. As you can imagine, there are an estimated 300,000 citizens across these countries that have been affected and targeted. So there may be many more people who we would want to register as well.”

The Foreign Secretary said: “There will, of course, also be people who have made their permanent homes in those countries, as well as the travellers, holidaymakers and so on. At the moment in most of those countries the advice is to shelter in place.

“It’s really important that people follow that local advice based on the circumstances on the ground at a time when, of course, there have been these drone and missile strikes.”

British nationals were last night being advised to stay where they are and follow the instructions of local authorities and monitor the Foreign Office’s travel advice, which officials expect to change rapidly.

Those in Bahrain, Israel, Palestine, Qatar and the UAE have been urged to register their presence with the Foreign Office online.

The Government has used the registration scheme before to provide urgent updates to people affected by international crises but it has not previously had to deal with so many people in so many different countries.

The Foreign Office has advised against travel to Iran, Israel and Palestine. It has advised against all but essential travel to the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, and there are further instructions to avoid travel to some parts of Pakistan.

It is also appealing for people in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Israel and Palestine to register.

The government has sent three “rapid deployment teams” to the Middle East, including to the UAE, to help register Britons.

A family trying to get home for a mother’s funeral and an A&E nurse unsure of when she will be able to work and retirees sleeping on the floor are among the thousands of British people stranded in Dubai.

Claire, 42, and husband Chris, 47, are worried they will miss Claire’s mother’s funeral on Friday following military activity in the Middle East.

Fiona died from motor neurone disease (MND) on February 7 and her daughter is desperate to get back to the UK to support her sister with funeral arrangements.

Claire, who did not want her surname to be published, said: “There are just the two of us and I hate the thought of her going through that on Friday without me.”

She cannot reschedule because other family members have already made travel and accommodation plans.

She added: “I would feel really bad if we left mum at the funeral directors until I might be able to get home, because we just don’t know how long this may go on for.”

The couple, from Braunston, Northamptonshire, were staying at the Five Palm Hotel in Dubai on Saturday with their children Noah, 18, and Pippa, 17, when the missiles began firing.

Claire said: “There were a couple of intercepted missiles overhead, very loud.

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“We’re not used to dealing with this sort of thing, so it’s not a case of just being on holiday for a few more days.

“The local government has one of the most sophisticated defence systems in the world, so we are probably better off here than we would be in the UK if we started being attacked.”

Claire has spent around an additional £2,000 on flights for Wednesday and Thursday trying to get home for the funeral.

Meanwhile, James Gill, 31, a golf instructor, was staying in Business Bay, Dubai, celebrating his girlfriend Rebecca Crawford’s 28th birthday when the couple first heard explosions.

Mr Gill, from Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, said: “I’ll be honest, I have hardly slept. I am in fight or flight mode.

“We have work to go back to, my girlfriend, she is an A&E nurse and she is supposed to be working on Sunday, she might have to cancel things. It is not a good situation.

Back home, their families are “worried sick” and Mr Gill explained the next available flights he could find are around £5,000.

All flight operations at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international travellers, and Dubai World Central, Al Maktoum International remain suspended “until further notice”.

But Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi resumed flights on Monday.

A small number of flights were expected to continue to depart today (TUES).

Airlines are said to be in discussions about allowing a limited number of flights to get people out on a “needs first” basis, such as for those who are ill and elderly.

It comes after the Bahraini Ministry of Interior confirmed that Iran had struck the Crowne Plaza Hotel in its capital, Manama, on Sunday.

A drone strike ignited a fire at Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab hotel, following U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran that triggered retaliatory assaults across the region.

And explosions have rocked Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah man-made island.