British civil aviation authorities say there will be no flights over England until Saturday morning at the earliest, as a huge ash cloud from Iceland’s erupting volcano disrupts air traffic around the world.
The National Air Traffic Services says some flights could start leaving and arriving at airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland later Friday. Another agency update is expected at 1230GMT (8:30 a.m. EDT).
Flights around the world have been canceled and passengers stranded as the ash cloud affected operations at some of the world’s busiest airports, including London’s Heathrow.
You can clearly see the Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull Volcano Eruption at Google Earth system. The Iceland Volcano Eruption is still ongoing and the continues spew of Ash Cloud all over northern Europe.
Anxious passengers have told stories of missed weddings, graduations, school and holidays because of the ominous plume, and some world leaders canceled plans to attend Sunday’s state funeral for Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria in the southern city of Krakow.
President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel still planned to attend. Slovenian President Danilo Turk will travel to Poland by car.
Most of northern and central Europe’s airspace has been shut down, affecting airports from New Zealand to San Francisco.
On Saturday, the French prime minister extended the closure of airspace in northern France until Monday morning. British airspace is closed until at least 0600 GMT Sunday, and forecasters said the ash cloud would progressively cover the whole of the U.K. later Saturday. British Airways is canceling all flights to and from the U.K. Sunday.
Authorities in the U.K. and Iceland told people with respiratory problems to stay indoors, and the World Health Organization said Europeans should not go outdoors if ash starts settling.
Stranded passengers reported the delays were causing financial hardships. Some had to check out of hotels and sleep in the airports.
At least 45 flights between Europe and Asia were canceled Saturday. Australia’s Qantas canceled all flights to Europe, and passengers were being offered refunds or seats on the next available flight. The airline said it was not known when flights would resume. Cathay Pacific was already canceling some Europe-bound flights leaving Hong Kong on Sunday.
Below are Iceland Volcano Eruption pictures were taken by NASA, and MODIS rapid Response System.
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