Eight passengers were injured on a Ryanair flight that diverted to an airport in southern Germany after experiencing “severe turbulence” due to bad weather, police have said.

Among those injured on Wednesday night were a two-year-old who suffered bruising and a woman who incurred a head injury, according to Bavarian police.

Three people were taken to a local hospital for treatment, while others were treated on site, they said.

Ryanair apologised to affected passengers. It said the captain of the flight – originally planned to go from Berlin to Milan – called ahead for medical assistance and the plane “landed normally” at Memmingen Airport, to the west of Munich.

Local police said the weather conditions meant it had not been possible to land at Munich Airport, so the plane was diverted to Memmingen, where it landed “safely and without further incident” at 20:44 local time (18:44 GMT).

An onward flight was not approved by the Southern Bavaria Aviation Authority on Wednesday evening, they said.

Ryanair said it organised “alternative transport” to Milan that night, as well as a replacement flight on Thursday morning.

“We sincerely apologise to passengers affected by this diversion,” it said.

There were 179 passengers and six crew members on board, according to police.

The ages of those injured range from two to 59, and as a precaution all passengers were checked for injuries, they said.