09:15 BST SATURDAY 28th May: no ash cloud threat at Spanish or UK airports which are operating normally.
09:30 BST FRIDAY 27TH May : The Met Office has confirmed that the ash cloud could return to the UK from midday today but it will be less dense than predicted, meaning planes should be able to take off. Planes will “underfly” and only start gaining altitude once they are safely clear of the ‘red zone’. No ash plume has been seen above the Grimsvotn volcano for over 24 hours, signalling the end of the eruption.
At the moment all UK and Spanish Airports are operating normally.
There are alternative services for travellers who are worried about having their Bank Holiday travel plans disrupted with Eurostar is providing extra services over the weekend. DFDS Seaways will increase capacity on its Harwich to Denmark route offering a reduced rate to any customers who want to reach Scandinavia. SeaFrance and Stenaline also have some availability over the Bank Holiday weekend to take passengers with cars who are keen to avoid air travel.
The latest ash cloud mainly affected Ireland, Scotland, the north of England, Germany and Scandinavia causing economy car rent be cancelled and delayed.
08:30 BST THURSDAY 26th May: the volcanic eruption in Iceland has died down and is no longer spewing out ash. Steam is now coming from the crater, with no ash plume detected since before dawn. Airlines are almost back to normal after cancelling around 1,000 flights across Europe (mostly in Germany) over the last few days. At the moment there are no problems at UK or Spanish Airports due to the eruption.
The European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said German airports were now open again and that it did not expect “any significant impact on European airspace” on Thursday.
The Met Office latest volcanic ash cloud advice is that the situation is improving and it seems likely that there will only be minimal ash over the UK and Europe over the Bank Holiday weekend.
13:25 BST Wednesday 25th May: The latest forecast is that Icelandic ash cloud is expected to remain clear of UK skies until 7:00 pm tonight, with high-level densities returning and likely to be at its worst on Friday when much of the country will be affected if the volcano continues to erupt at its current levels.
Met Office projections show that it could disappear entirely from UK skies by Saturday, and clear further away on Sunday.
06:45 BST WEDNESDAY 25th May: Better news for UK today as ash has moved across to northern Europe and airports in Germany, Sweden and Holland are now experiencing disruption. German aviation authorities have said that Berlin airport could face closure from 11:00 am.
Spanish Airports are operating normally at the moment with forecasts currently predicting that with current weather patterns it will escape the ash cloud.
But the bad news is that a provisional five-day forecast by the Met Office shows a dense layer of ash engulfing the country this Friday which is start of the bank holiday weekend and half term. Although some planes would be able to take off and land under the ash cloud, the Civil Aviation Authority said the number of flights may have to be ‘rationed’.
Scottish Airports are open today but still trying to clear the passengers stranded backlog from yesterday’s cancellations. The following cancellations are in place so far today (Wednesday) :
The best advice we can still give is that if you are flying from Newcastle of any of the Scottish Airports to check with your airline before you set off. On their website if possible as telephone lines will be jammed and most operators have up to date details of delays and cancellations on their sites.
19:00 BST Tuesday 24th May: It seems that the worst of the eruption might be over in the UK. The Met Office Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre said its latest forecast showed no high density ash over Britain or Ireland early tomorrow morning (Wednesday), and only a medium level over parts of Scotland. Ash cloud will continue to affect car hire auto rental some airports in Scotland and northern England from 19:00 on Tuesday until 01:00 on Wednesday.
Experts think the high-density levels of ash – which can affect aircraft engines – will not spread further south in the UK. Forecasts of south-westerly winds for the next two days will also move the ash away from the UK. The forecast did show high density levels over parts of the northeastern Netherlands and northern Germany.
13:00 BST Tuesday 24th May: flight operations have resumed at the Scottish Airports after the airspace was deemed safe by the Civil Aviation Authority. For the rest of the day there are expected to be knock on delays as the airlines take time to recover.
12 flights between the UK (north and Scotland) and Spain have been cancelled today with meetings currently taking place to discuss the effects on Spanish air space. By tonight the cloud is expected to cover the south of the Scandinavian peninsular, Denmark and parts of the north of Germany. It could ‘possibly’ move south to reach France and Spain on Thursday, although this is very difficult to forecast.
10.15 am BST Tuesday 24th May: British Airways have cancelled all flights between London and Scotland until 2:00 pm today. Around 40 BA flights will be affected from airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and London City to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
EasyJet, Aer Lingus, Flybe, KLM, Logan Air and Eastern Airways have all cancelled economy car rent and from Scotland until later today. BMI is still operating services to Edinburgh and Glasgow but services to Aberdeen are affected.
09:00 am BST Tuesday 24th May: The Grimsvotn volanco that is currently erupting in Iceland has already hit northern Scotland and is causing problems. The Irish Aviation Authority has informed airlines that they cannot operate economy car rent /from Glasgow Prestwick, Edinburg, Inverness or Aberdeen until at least 13:00 today. The ash is expected to head towards and affect the rest of Britain by Thursday.
So if you are flying from Scotland make sure you check with your airline before setting off for the airport.
It is also recommended that you check your flights status if you are flying from Newcastle, Belfast, Liverpool or Manchester as they are the next airports likely to be affected.
Iceland’s airports are closed and domestic flights cancelled with a 15-mile high mushroom cloud of ash, steam and smoke filling the sky. The ash is covering buildings, cars and fields in a thick layer of grey soot, with residents being told to wear masks and stay indoors.
Grimsvotn lies under the uninhabited Vatnajökull glacier about 120 miles east of Reykjavik and began erupting on Saturday for the first time since 2004, when transatlantic flights were re-routed but no airports were shut.
There is a low pressure weather system moving into Europe, causing fears that the north-westerly winds blowing ash towards Britain will pick up. Airlines have been told to be prepared for a further spread of ash later in the week. It all depends how long the volcano continues to erupt and the weather patterns that develop.
Airlines claimed that last time the rules were too strict and their planes could have coped with low concentrations of fine grained dust, but a scientific study published only last month concluded that the levels of ash were high enough to damage engines and cause a disaster.
The new warning assumes the volcano will continue to spew ash at the same rate and there is no change in forecasts over a period of five days. But the good news is that although this eruption is far larger, the ash is far heavier and will fall to the ground more quickly.
The Foreign Secretary William Hague is reassuring travellers that there will not be a repeat of last year’s ash cloud chaos because Britain had learned valuable lessons from when Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, shut European airspace for a week. This debacle cost up to £2billion and led to disruption for ten million passengers.
Will keep you posted at regular intervals during the day about any disruptions which are being caused to economy car rent and from Spanish Airports.
