Volcano ash leads to flight cancellations

Airline passengers faced massive disruption today after ash from Iceland’s volcanic eruption moved towards UK airspace causing a number of airports to cancel flights.

A cloud of ash caused by a volcano erupting in Iceland has brought havoc to flight schedules across Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Passengers here are facing lengthy delays as airlines are being forced to cancel dozens of flights this morning.

Officials in the UK have had to place restrictions on their airspace, because of the volcanic ash, and that's having a serious knock on effect on Irish flight schedules, to the UK and further afield.

Scotland's three main airports have been shut down, and as the ash drifts further south, more airports could be closed later.

Aer Lingus has issued a statement saying there will be major disruption to its flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Belfast, London Gatwick today.

The advice for any prospective passengers is to check with their airline to see if they're affected

Five easyJet flights due to depart from Stansted Airport this morning were cancelled as a result of the huge plume of ash.

Airports have urged travellers to contact their airlines to check whether flights were affected.

Airlines also issued warnings of potential disruption.

A spokeswoman for easyJet said: “Following the eruption of a volcano in Iceland yesterday, an ash plume has entered UK and Scandinavian airspace overnight.

“As a result NATS have closed parts of UK airspace and this is causing significant disruption to all airlines due to operate flights to and from the UK today.

“EasyJet passengers are advised to check the website before they leave for the airport for any disruption information.”

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

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.

“NATS is working with Eurocontrol and our colleagues in Europe’s other air navigation service providers to take the appropriate action to ensure safety in accordance with international aviation policy.”