VETERAN actor Robbie Coltrane is recovering in a Florida hospital after falling ill with severe flu-like symptoms during a transatlantic flight.

A representative for the 64-year-old Harry Potter star said he was resting and doing well, but dismissed social media reports that the actor had been drinking heavily at Heathrow airport before boarding the plane.

Belinda Wright said: "The prognosis is that he is going to be fine."

The Scottish star was on his way to a fan convention at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Universal Studios with co-star Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore.

Ms Wright added that reports that he was seen drinking heavily in a Heathrow Airport lounge before boarding his flight were "completely untrue".

She said the actor had been running late and struggled to make his British Airways flight to Orlando as his earlier connection from Glasgow to Heathrow had been delayed due to snow.

The pilot declared a medical emergency and paramedics were called to meet the star off the nine-hour flight from London, before rushing him to hospital by ambulance for treatment. He was due to remain in hospital overnight until today at least, but there were no further details on his condition or what had caused the episode.

Thousands of Harry Potter fans are due to descend on Universal Studios this weekend for the second annual 'A Celebration of Harry Potter' convention. The three-day extravaganza concludes tomorrow.

Other stars attending including twins James and Oliver Phelps who play Fred and George Weasley as well as Luna Lovegood actress Evanna Lynch.

The actor, real name Anthony Robert McMillan, has been working in film and television for over 30 years and is best known for playing Hogwarts gamekeeper Hagrid and starring as criminal psychologist Dr Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald in ITV's crime drama Cracker.

The father-of-two, who was given an OBE in 2006, has also starred in the James Bond films GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough and in the cult classic, Tutti Frutti.

He has previously battled with his weight, setting out to lose eight stone in 2012 in his quest to get the all clear for privately-funded knee surgery in the US.

At that point he tipped the scales at more than 20 stone, but went on to lose an initial four and a half stone in just six months.

He was told he would have to lose the weight before surgeons would operate to repair an old rugby injury which had caused arthritis in his right knee. The injury, which he suffered while at Glenalmond School in Edinburgh, had caused he cartilage in his knee to break up and left him in agonising pain.

At the time he said losing the weight had been easy, and described his diet as simply "avoiding all the things I like".

However, the actor was seen walking with a stick when he visited Glasgow in April last year to open the city's new School of Art building, located on the opposite side of the street to the historic Mackintosh building which suffered a devastating blaze just a month later.

Coltrane, a former student at the GSA, was seen holding on to a walking cane due to a sore leg and joked: "The promise of pole dancing is not going to happen."