Half-term hell on the way for holiday-makers as ash cloud due to cover the whole of the UK by FRIDAY



Ryanair says ash has no effect on aircraft - but then cancels all its flights



BA: Flights to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle cancelled for the rest of the day but operating to and from Aberdeen

Brussels Airlines cancels 14 flights and FlyBe cancels 54

Volcanic ash may close some German airports briefly



Click here to see video of volcano eruption viewed from space

Hundreds of thousands of travellers could have their half-term holidays ruined as forecasters predict a towering plume of Icelandic ash could cover the whole of Britain by the end of the week.



A five-day forecast from the Met Office shows the ash plume will cover giant swathes of Britain by Friday lunchtime.



Almost all flights to and from Scotland have been cancelled today - despite Ryanair claiming the plume is 'non-existent'.



This morning the airline carried out a test flight 41,000ft over Scotland and branded the so-called ash cloud 'red zone' a 'non-existent and mythical and misguided invention by the UK Met Office and the Civil Aviation Authority'.

Huge power: The eruption makes a spectacular sight over the Icelandic landscape

Eruption: A photographer captures the volcano exploding out of the earth

On the ground: A car drives towards the erupting Grimsvotn volcano which has sent thousands of tonnes of volcanic ash into the sky FRIDAY: if the volcano erupts again today the ash cloud looks set to cover the whole of UK about midday, this Met Office map shows

Unreliable: Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary said his test flight demonstrated the UK Met Office's 'red zone' forecasts were 'totally unreliable and unsupported by any evidence'

A Ryanair spokesman added: 'This morning's verification flight has demonstrated that the UK Met Office's 'red zone' forecasts are totally unreliable and unsupported by any evidence of volcanic ash concentrations whatsoever.'



But hours later the airline said it had been 'forced' to cancel all its flights to and from Scotland today following advice from the Irish Aviation Authority.

Tonight British Airways were also understood to be conducting a verification flight to assess the situation.

A spokesman said an Airbus A320 left from Manchester airport this evening to fly toward Newcastle and then over Glasgow and Edinburgh before heading south.

The plane, and its flight performance, will then be inspected by engineers when it arrives at Heathrow, he said.



The airline and a host of others chose last night to cancel all flights to and from Scotland today.

European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said 252 flights had been cancelled in Europe.

This afternoon BA said it had cancelled flights to Glasgow, Newcastle and Edinburgh for the rest of the day but was now operating services again to and from Aberdeen.



Brussels Airlines also cancelled 14 flights due to the ash. FlyBe has cancelled 54 flights.

Airline bmi cancelled all flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow but anticipated that it would operate 'a normal flying programme tomorrow based on current forecasts'.



EasyJet's website stated that all flights to and from Scotland were cancelled until at least 7pm.



A ir traffic control company Nats said ash is expected to affect other UK airports, including Londonderry, Glasgow, Newcastle, Carlisle, Durham Tees Valley and Cumbernauld as well as Heathrow.



This lunchtime Heathrow airport said just some flights to Iceland, Norway and Scotland were affected.

Edinburgh airport has decided to cancel all its flights for the rest of the day following advice from the Civil Aviation Authority.

And Prestwick Airport reported it had no flights coming in or out of the airport throughout the day.

Continental European airports and meteorologists are also closely monitoring the situation.

The Germany meteorological service said that temporary shutdowns of airports in Hamburg, Bremen and possibly Berlin could occur from 2300BST this evening.



The situation is also being closely monitored by Barcelona football club whose players are due to fly to London for Saturday's Champions League final against Manchester United at Wembley.

The latest satellite image showing the ash plume from the Grimsvotn volcano, under the Vatnajokull glacier in south-east Iceland

Bewildered: Passengers stand beneath departure boards at Edinburgh Airport as Ryanair said it would protest against 'unnecessary' restrictions

Waiting and more waiting: Passengers at Edinburgh Airport wait to board buses to other airports after their flights were cancelled

WHAT'S BEEN CANCELLED?

British Airways said it had cancelled all flights to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle airports today but is now operating services again to and from Aberdeen

Brussels Airlines cancelled 14 flights due to land and take off from Newcastle

FlyBe has cancelled 54 flights to and from airports in Scotland

Easyjet has suspended services going into and out of Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen.

KLM has cancelled 44 flights and Eastern Airways more than 60 to and from some airports in Scotland and Newcastle.

Aer Lingus has also cancelled 20 flights on various routes in and out of Scotland

Heathrow has a limited service to Scotland, Norway and Iceland but no other flights are affected.

Ryanair has cancelled all its flights to and from Scotland for the rest of the day



At Glasgow airport passengers with holiday companies Thomson and Thomas Cook were waiting for buses to take them to Manchester to pick up later flights.



The airport's cafes were packed and people were sitting on their suitcases or trying to catch up on sleep as they waited for news.



Guy McKinven, from the Clyde Valley area, was travelling with easyJet to Stansted to spend a week with his grandmother.



He said: 'You see people shouting and getting upset, but there's nothing you can do.



'It is frustrating, but that's just the situation. EasyJet have been helpful and have told me I can have a refund for my flight.'

Despite the cancellations, experts are predicting the aviation industry will not be as badly affected even though the eruption is 10 times the scale of the one last year.

Prof Gillian Foulger, of Durham University, who set up a research station on Grimsvotn in 1996, said: 'Thankfully it is subsiding. When it began on Saturday, it started with a bang, a huge, officially cataclysmic eruption.

'Because it started so huge, it is subsiding very quickly. I think we are looking at a gradually reducing eruptive rate.



'I think the disruption is going to be much less than last year.



'The eruption is 10 times as big as the one last year but most of the ash is blowing north and the aviation industry has got its act together and knows exactly how much ash is safe to fly through so the very minimum number of flights will be cancelled.'

Haves and have nots: President Obama flew early so he could avoid being stuck in Ireland longer than he wanted, but these stranded passengers at Edinburgh Airport didn't have that luxury

Time for a nap: British Airways is not operating any flights between London and Scotland until later so passengers caught up on some sleep



Stationary: Eastern Airways, which has cancelled all flights to and from Scotland, now has its planes standing still at Aberdeen Airport Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said some disruption was inevitable but said a blanket ban on flights like last year would not be imposed. He said: 'We are in a much better place this year because we have worked with airlines and regulators to build a regime that puts safety first, but with far more flexibility. We will not be imposing a blanket ban like the last government.

'Instead it is up to airlines to decide whether it is safe to fly in discussions with the CAA.'

David Rothery, of the Open University volcano dynamics group, said: 'Reports this morning suggest that the Grimsvotn ash column has subsided to around 5km. That's a good sign, and the eruption will most likely continue to decrease in intensity, producing a lower plume with less ash.

'However it could reinvigorate and remain troublesome for several days, and anyway the existing ash cloud has yet to disperse.'

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR FLIGHT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said:



• Contact your airline for the latest information about travel arrangements. If your flight is cancelled airlines should offer you either a full refund or an alternative flight. EU-based airlines are required to offer you accommodation and meals if you are delayed in getting home to the UK.



• If your flight is cancelled and you do not travel, insurers will refund your premium if you took out single trip travel insurance. If you arrange an alternative flight at a later date, your travel insurer should be able to change your policy to cover this.



• Following the ash cloud disruption in April 2010, it has been possible to buy travel insurance which specifically covers cancellation, delay and curtailment due to ash cloud disruption. Check your policy for the terms and conditions.



• Check your travel insurance policy for any cover that may be available. While volcanic ash is not a specific risk in most policies, some may cover delay and any subsequent abandonment. Your travel insurer can advise.



• Payment for any delay, whether outward or return, is usually a fixed sum for a specified period up to a maximum amount. Some policies may pay a lump sum if the delay is over a certain time (typically 24 hours), and you are forced to abandon your trip.



• Where your travel policy covers ash disruption then you will be covered for this latest eruption, provided you took the policy out before this latest eruption could have been reasonably foreseen. Check with your insurer on this and any initial periods when cover may be limited.



• ABI member travel insurers will provide information for customers on their websites wherever possible.

Closer to the source: A plane flies past smoke plume from the eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano in Southeast Iceland but flights in Britain are being cancelled



Pink lightning: The stormy conditions around the Grimsvotn volcano look dramatic but authorities insist that it poses a lesser threat than the last ash cloud



Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which? magazine, said: 'Travellers should still be prepared for delays and cancellations, but airlines and the CAA do not expect the volcanic ash to cause as much disruption as last year.



'If you do have a flight booked over the next few days, contact your airline before you go to the airport, and make sure they have your up-to-date contact details.'



He went on: 'If your flight is cancelled or delayed for over five hours, you should be offered a choice of a full refund or transfer to an alternative flight. However, the airlines don't have to compensate passengers for loss of any additional elements to holidays, such as accommodation and car hire.



'It may be possible to claim for these losses on travel insurance, but passengers will need to check their individual policies, many of which may now have specific exclusions built in. '



The IAA said that, based on the latest information from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) in London, there would be no shutdown of Irish airspace.

But as a string of carriers announced cancellations, Mr Hammond said Britons 'have got to learn' to live with chaos caused by volcanic activity in Iceland.



'My understanding is that we have gone through an unusually quiet period for volcanic eruptions in Iceland over the last 20-odd years and we are moving into a period when there is likely to be significantly more volcanic activity,' he told the BBC.



'So this is clearly something we have got to learn to plan around. We have got to learn to live with it.'



Since last year's eruption, the authorities have gained a 'much better understanding' of the risk from ash clouds and are able to assess the thickness of different patches as well as the possibility of flying over or below a cloud, he said.

'Most importantly, the basic situation now is that the threshold for most aircraft is 20 times where it was last year.



'We have got from 200 microgrammes per cubic metre to 4,000 microgrammes per cubic metre as the threshold up to which most aircraft can fly.



'What we can't promise is that there won't be disruption when there is a major natural event like this.'



However, he insisted the airlines were 'making the decisions'.



'They have looked at the projections for tomorrow and said `This is not something we can fly in'.



'If they wanted to make a safety case to fly in the conditions that are modelled for tomorrow, they would have to put forward a safety case to the CAA that would then consider it.'

Mr Hammond also said this morning that there were indications that the eruption could be subsiding.

'There is some early indication that the scale and power of the eruption might be subsiding a little bit.

'Perhaps it's a little bit too early to be absolutely sure about that, but clearly that's the most important thing - if the ash stops belching out of the volcano then, after a few days, the problem will have cleared, so that's one of the factors.

'The other is the wind speed and direction. At the moment the weather patterns are very volatile which is what is making it quite difficult, unlike last year, to predict where the ash will go.

'The public can be absolutely confident that airlines are only able to operate when it is safe to do so.'



Ryanair said it could not see any ash cloud and its plane had no ash on its wings or in its engines following a test flight U.S. President Barack Obama flew from Ireland to London last night – a day early – to ensure the cloud does not delay his state visit. The warnings come a year after debris from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano spread across Europe, creating the biggest no-fly zone since the Second World War.

THE NEW RULES ON AIRSPACE CLOSURES DUE TO ASH

New procedures will govern the closure of UK airspace this time.

A CAA spokesman explained that interested parties had agreed on a system whereby ash levels are graded as low, medium or high.

'Airspace will not be closed and we will notify airlines when the Met Office predicts there are medium or high levels of ash present,' the spokesman said.

'If an airline has done a risk assessment as to how it will fly safely in medium or high ash levels and as liaised with aircraft manufacturers and engine makers, then they will be able to fly if the CAA considers it acceptable.'

Some 500,000 passengers on 9,000 flights come in and out of UK airspace every day.



A British Airways jumbo jet was grounded in Canada on Sunday following fears the engines had been contaminated with volcanic ash during a transatlantic crossing.



But BA said the move had been ‘precautionary’ and that no evidence of volcanic ash had been found.

In April last year, UK airspace was shut for six days when volcanic ash hit the British Isles.

Under the old ‘zero tolerance to ash’ rules planes were grounded for fear that particles from the volcano could clog up engines.



The ban – which cost up to £2billion and led to disruption for ten million passengers – was only overturned after pressure from airline chiefs who insisted their planes could fly safely through low concentrations of volcanic ash. Under new rules ash concentrations will be measured and graded. Most planes will be able to fly in ‘low’ and ‘medium’ densities of ash, but barred if ash levels are high.

Grey skies: Emergency services vehicles in Kirkjubaearklaustur are covered in a thick layer of the volcanic ash from clouds that are now passing over Britain



The beginning of the explosion: Grimsvotn starts to send its plume of smoke into the air



The ash billows into the sky from the Grimsvotn volcano, under the Vatnajokull glacier in south east Iceland

The huge puffs of ash from the active volcano could ruin many people's plans to jet off as it starts to drift into Europe