Hundreds of flights grounded as new volcanic ash cloud shuts Scottish and Irish airspace... and it could be heading for England

Irish airspace closed from 7am to 1pm

Around 20 Heathrow flights cancelled

Ash cloud also affects parts of Scotland

Passengers told to check before travel

Cameron cancels election visit to N.I.



The return of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud caused travel misery for thousands of air passengers today with hundreds of flights cancelled.



Airlines had to scrap all services to and from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland after no-flight restrictions were introduced until 1pm.



The ash cloud, borne on north-westerly winds, also prevented flights to and from Tiree, Barra, Benbecula and Islay in the Hebrides, and Campbeltown in Argyll in mainland Scotland.

Forecasters warned the cloud is now coming towards England. It is being blown south-east from its current position above Ireland and Scotland, the Met Office said.



But they stressed it was too early to say whether the ash that reached England would be concentrated enough to cause air travel restrictions.

Rumbling again: Ash continues to spew from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano

'We can see from the charts that it is above Scotland and Ireland and at the moment it is being blown South East,' a spokesman said.



'As to whether it will affect flights in England, we just don't know yet.'

Almost 440 flights had been due to depart and fly in to Dublin Airport throughout today, with more scheduled from Shannon, Galway, Sligo, Knock, Donegal, Cork and Kerry.

Budget airline Ryanair cancelled all flights to and from the Republic of Ireland, Belfast and Derry City from 6am to 2pm.



Another major no-frills carrier, easyJet, had to axe around 20 flights on services to and from Belfast City and Belfast International airports.



Irish airline Aer Lingus suspended all Irish services to the UK and Europe until 1pm.



Heathrow said that around 20 flights to and from the west London airport had been cancelled this morning.



'We are asking passengers to check with their airlines before coming to the airport,' said a Heathrow spokeswoman.



Aer Arann was forced to cancel services to and from Derry and Donegal airports last night while easyJet warned of possible disruptions on services to Northern Ireland and Scotland.



Tory leader David Cameron had to cancel a planned campaigning visit to Northern Ireland today due to the flight restrictions, party officials said.

Chaos: Hundreds of thousands of travellers were left stranded when European airspace was closed for almost a week after eruptions from the Icelandic volcano

Irish Ferries said it had space on its services between Ireland and the UK and Ireland and France.

Virgin Trains has added extra carriages on its West Coast Main Line services from London that connect at Holyhead with ferries to and from Ireland.

Flights from continental Europe were not affected by the ash cloud from Iceland's volcano Eyjafjallajokull, which caused travel chaos when it forced the closure of much of Europe's airspace for almost a week last month.

Some services are still returning to normal.

The latest eruption has spewed concentrated ash into the atmosphere between ground level and 20,000 feet.

Most commercial flights fly between 35,000 and 40,000 feet, meaning that services can continue to fly above the cloud.

Transatlantic services passing over Ireland and Northern Ireland are unaffected.



The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are monitoring the latest situation.



Eamon Brennan, IAA chief executive, said that, based on the new regime imposed in Europe last week, officials had no choice but to impose a no-fly zone from 7am to 1pm.



'The decision is based on the safety risks to crews and passengers as a result of the drift south of the volcanic ash cloud caused by the north easterly winds," he added.



'The situation will be reviewed again at 9am.

'What's unusual about this is that we are the country affected in Europe,' he added.



Elsewhere the CAA said airspace over the Outer Hebrides was closed to all operations from 6pm last night, with the closure affecting operations from Stornoway, Tyree, Barra and Benbecula.



'The CAA is closely monitoring the situation and will update the advice to operators and passengers as latest updates are produced by the Met Office,' it added.

Last month hundreds of thousands of Britons were stranded abroad and faced long delays when European airspace was closed after the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.