A passenger on a Dublin-bound Ryanair flight on St Patrick's Day has taken ill forcing the plane to declaire a mid-air emergency. 

Flight FR5771 set off from Glasgow International airport at 8.40am today but was forced to turn back over the Scottish coast after declaring an emergency.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft had reached an altitude of 8,575 ft before its pilots made the decision to turn the plane back.

Mid-air emergencies are declared when a Squawk 7700 is filed by the pilot, which can be anything from an engine failure, smoke, fire or passenger illness.

A spokesman for Ryanair said: "This flight from Glasgow to Dublin returned to Glasgow shortly after take-off after a customer became ill on board.

"The crew called ahead to request medical assistance, the aircraft landed normally and the customer was met by medics upon arrival.

"The aircraft departed to Dublin a short time later. Ryanair apologised to all customers affected by this short delay.”

The flight flew over the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde before looping over Great Cumbrae to reach the mainland.

It is understood the plane returned to runway 05 at Glasgow Airport.