Several people have been injured after a Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was hit by turbulence on Friday morning.

Delta Flight 41 "encountered brief turbulence" as it landed at Sydney Airport, an airline spokesperson told the BBC. Four flight attendants were injured.

The New South Wales Ambulance Service said it assessed five patients, and took three to hospital with minor injuries that included back pain and headaches. The patients' ages ranged from their 30s to 70s.

It is the latest incident of planes being hit by turbulence, with experts saying climate change is a major factor.

There were 245 passengers and 15 crew members on the Airbus A350, the Delta spokesperson said, adding that the plane landed "safely and normally" at Sydney Airport at 06:48 local time on Friday (19:48 GMT on Thursday).

The NSW Ambulance Service said it received a call just three minutes before the plane landed, and emergency vehicles were waiting on the tarmac.

Turbulence is not uncommon during flights, and while cases of strong or severe turbulence seem to be rising, they are still very rare.

Estimates show that there are around 5,000 incidents of severe-or-greater turbulence every year, out of a total of more than 35 million flights that now take off globally.

Severe turbulence is defined as when the up and down movements of a plane going through disturbed air exert more than 1.5g-force on your body - enough to lift you out of your seat if you weren't wearing a seatbelt.

As climate change shifts atmospheric conditions, experts warn that air travel could become bumpier: temperature changes and shifting wind patterns in the upper atmosphere are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of severe turbulence.