All non-emergency flights in British airspace will be grounded until at least 7am tomorrow after a volcanic ash cloud turned the country into a no-fly zone for the first time in modern history.

Tens of thousands of passengers have been left stranded as hundreds of flights were cancelled and airports shut down throughout the day.

Eurostar has been inundated with people trying to make alternative travel plans.

Air traffic controllers will decide tonight whether to authorise the lifting of the restrictions tomorrow morning. The dust spewed out by the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and trapped in the air above Britain is capable of bringing down aircraft by clogging up their engines.

Ash can also be sucked into the cabin itself, contaminating the passengers' environment as well as damaging the plane's electronic systems.

The vast cloud of ash extends across Britain and northeastern Europe. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium have all seen large numbers of flights cancelled.

The Met Office said it was constantly monitoring the ash cloud but that the north westerly winds were due to continue, pushing the plume of particles further south.

Forecasters believe the ash could take a number of days to disperse.

The disruption could go on for some time," said Dr Steve Bond, lecturer in aircraft operations at City University London. "It depends on how long the eruption goes on for and weather conditions.

"When there was an eruption over Java in 1982 an aircraft ran into difficulties 19 days after a British Airways plane had problems.

"There is a risk of engine failure because of the ash. The problem with aircraft radar is that it is designed to pick up clouds of moisture and it won't detect ash.

"This is why you have to take precautions and keep aircraft out of the area.

"Even if in a best case scenario it clears after one day, there will still be disruption because aircraft will be in the wrong place and crew will be in the wrong place. There will also be a backlog of passengers to clear."

Meanwhile British Airways said passengers whose flights had been cancelled because of the ash could rebook at a another date or claim a refund.

Matt Dobson, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "The concern is that as well as the eruption, the jet stream passing through Iceland is passing in a south easterly direction, which will bring ash to the north of Scotland and Denmark and Norway. But it is impossible to say how much ash will come down.

"It could be a threat in these areas from now until tomorrow or Friday."

A spokesman from Nats said: "The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre has issued a forecast that the ash cloud from the volcanic eruption in Iceland will track over Europe tonight.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel...orrow.html

This volcano keeps spewing out its ash. Most airports in the UK are still closed.

Ash cloud likely to disrupt flights from UK to US

Transatlantic flights from Europe to America could be delayed by drifting volcanic ash cloud

Transatlantic air passengers face the threat of delays this weekend as a substantial volcanic ash cloud drifts between Europe and the US.

Airports in western Ireland were temporarily closed this morning as the latest Icelandic eruption pushed a smoke plume into busy transatlantic air routes.

The Irish Aviation Authority said flights had been diverted around the cloud, which could stretch from Iceland to the tip of northern Spain by tomorrow, but a wind change from a north-westerly direction to north-easterly could push the ash over mainland Europe. "If the wind … moves in a north-easterly direction we are in trouble, not just in Ireland and the UK but also northern Europe," the IAA said.

The Civil Aviation Authority said transatlantic flights to and from UK airports were being rerouted, but suffering minor delays to journey times as a result. "It is not anticipated that it will result in flights being cancelled or severe delays," the CAA said. It added that there were no forecasts of a wind change that would alter the direction of the cloud, which is about 1,250 miles long and 800 miles wide. "It means that flights have to take slightly different routes," it said.

Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based air traffic controller, said some European flights could take one or two hours longer.

Guardian.co.uk

The vast cloud of ash extends across Britain and northeastern Europe. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium have all seen large numbers of flights cancelled. The Met Office said it was constantly monitoring the ash cloud but that the north westerly winds were due to continue, pushing the plume of particles further south.