The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced that volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland is once again drifting south and that some Scottish and Northern Irish airports will be closed from 7am on Wednesday 5 May. The UK Met Office, which is currently monitoring the volcano in Iceland, has reported increased activity. This is certainly going to affect any flights to and from Scotland and Northern Ireland and may also affect airports further south, particularly the northwest of England and North Wales. However, the latest reports suggest that the problem will not move any further south than that. The situation will continue to be vetted, but currently there is no indication of how long airports will be shut.
This latest volcano-fuelled problem follows the cancellation of some flights to Northern Ireland and to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on Tuesday 4 May. The ban was later lifted, but the risk of further ash clouds is still putting flights at risk and could remain a problem for the next few days. European flights, apart from those that started or ended in Northern Ireland, were not affected because of new flight rules allowing planes to fly through low levels of ash-filled air - the denser plumes haven't, as yet, travelled that far.
There is speculation in the media that the problem with volcanic ash is far from being resolved; in fact the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has expressed concern that the coming summer may be filled with airspace bans and restrictions as the volcano continues to be active. Despite the new flight rules, which suggest that previous bans were over-cautious, there are still plumes of ash drifting across the UK and Europe that are too dense to allow safe passage.
After the April batch of cancellations, which lasted for six days, this latest ban is unlikely to be popular with air passengers affected. Those who are intending to fly in the next few days are recommended to keep an eye on the news and check with their airlines about flights in case of cancellation. The cancellations aren't just affecting holidaymakers; even David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party was affected when his visit to Northern Ireland was temporarily cancelled. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) for the people of Northern Ireland, the visit later went ahead.
Sources:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100504/tuk-scotland-n-ireland-airspace-closed-w-a7ad41d.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/04/flight-disruption-iceland-volcano-ash
http://www.guide2midipyrenees.com/news/217/UK-airports-closed-again-due-to-volcan ic-ash-cloud
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2010/volcano.html