The skill of two pilots was captured on video as they landed the world's largest passenger plane sideways while battling heavy crosswinds at Heathrow Airport.

The Etihad Airbus A380, which is flown by two people, can be seen seeming to hover metres above the tarmac as it attempted to touchdown on Saturday during Storm Dennis.

Gusts of up to 50mph were recorded at London's main airport on Saturday as the fourth named storm of the season hit just days after Storm Ciara.

Image: The plane was seen hovering above the runway sideways before it made a 'crab' landing

Dozens of flights were cancelled at Heathrow, but the Etihad pilots managed to land with one attempt, directing the 573,794kg (1.26 million lb) plane across the runway to carry out a "crab" landing - a highly skilled manoeuvre where pilots fly the plane into the wind, perpendicular to the runway as they land.

The footage shows the landing gear's wheels eventually touching down, pointing across the runway instead of forwards, before the aircraft swings round to face the right way.


Image: The pilots landed the plane in high winds caused by Storm Dennis

Etihad confirmed the aircraft had flown from Abu Dhabi to London.

One person has been killed and flood alerts have been issued across the country as Storm Dennis brought strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend.

Flights and train services have been disrupted just as many schools started their half-term holidays.