Portugal Hire Cars

BA had intended to resume flights from London airports today but last night it had to cancel those plans.

A spokesman for the air traffic control service Nats said: 'The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK.

'This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working.

'Latest information from the Met Office shows that the situation is worsening in some areas.'

Nats will report on the latest developments at 9am.

The Met Office itself said strong high-altitude winds were blowing the new cloud towards the UK more quickly than the one which followed the first eruption.

But the weather experts were facing increasingly hostile attacks from airlines accusing them of using faulty data.

Newcastle International Airport confirmed it planned to reopen for flights to and from Aberdeen and the Isle of Man at 7am, with the first flight expected to arrive at 9.20am.

It also said easyJet was hoping to operate a 'very limited service' from late afternoon.

Manchester Airport had initially hoped to open at 9am, but delayed this until at least 1pm after the advice with Nats.

A spokesman said: 'Unfortunately, the latest forecasts indicate that a further deterioration in conditions is likely.

'It is absolutely essential that people contact their airline before travelling to the airport because even if Manchester Airport is able to reopen today, schedules will take several days to return to normal.'

BA has cancelled short-haul flights but said it hoped to run long haul flights scheduled to start after 4pm, depending on a 'full and permanent' opening of airspace.

'Following the latest information from National Air Traffic Services about the path of the volcanic ash affecting UK airspace, we regret we will not be able to operate any short-haul flights on Tuesday 20 April.

A trickle of passengers arrived at airports in Scotland this morning as a handful of domestic flights resumed.

Some of the check-in desks were manned, but there were no queues and international departures for Tenerife and Amsterdam were listed as cancelled today.

The arrivals board displayed one flight arrival from Reykjavik in Iceland this morning at 11.05am today.

A meeting of the government's emergency planning committee Cobra, chaired by Gordon Brown, was held last night to discuss the latest updates on the ash. Cobra will meet again today.

Passengers at Barajas Airport, Madrid, wait for news about flights back to Britain

Last night the Met Office was accused of unnecessarily triggering the six-day closure of British airspace which has cost passengers, airlines and the economy more than £1.5billion. 

Critics said the agency used a scientific model based on 'probability' rather than fact to forecast the spread of the ash cloud.

Matthias Ruete, the European Commission's director general of transport, said the ban should have been restricted to a 20 to 30-mile limit around the volcano.