The UK government has chartered a repatriation flight out of Oman to help British nationals who want to leave the Middle East, as attacks continue to take place across the region.

The flight, the first specifically arranged by the UK government, is currently scheduled to leave Muscat International Airport on Wednesday night at 23:00 local time (19:00 GMT) - and will prioritise the most vulnerable people first.

British nationals and their spouse or partner, and their children under the age of 18, will all be eligible.

The Foreign Office said that it would contact British nationals to secure them a seat on the flight, and urged people not to make their way to the airport unless they have been officially called.

Air travel in the Middle East has been severely disrupted since Saturday, when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has since retaliated with attacks across the region, targeting American military bases on the soil of their Arab neighbours, but also civilian and energy infrastructure.

Thousands of flights have been cancelled, and many British citizens who would like to leave remain stuck in the region. Announcing the flight, the Foreign Office asked that British nationals who have previously registered their presence in the UAE but are are now in Oman to "urgently" fill out a form if they would like a seat on the charter flight.

Dependents who are not British nationals will require a valid travel documentation to be eligible, such as a visa or a permission to remain in the UK that was granted for more than six months.

The Foreign Office said it would "continue to work with airlines to find more routes for people to return home".

A number of people have told the BBC that there has been a lack of information about available routes to travel home.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs on Tuesday that the "safety and security" of British nationals was a "top priority".

She indicated then that Oman was likely to be the first place from which a government-arranged repatriation flight would take off.

Approximately 130,000 British nationals have signed up for the Register Your Presence programme, according to the foreign secretary, which is available in Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

British Airways has also announced it will operate one commercial flight from Muscat to London's Heathrow Airport, departing on Thursday at 02:30 local time (22:30 GMT Wednesday).

The Foreign Office is currently advising against all but essential travel to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Oman is situated across the Gulf of Oman from southern Iran but is about 1,200 miles (1,900km) away from Tehran so is further from the Iranian capital than most of the Middle East nations

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