The volcano in southern Iceland sends more ash skyward

Travellers endured more misery today as a cloud of volcanic ash hanging over Europe forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights in and out of the UK for the fourth day.

Hopes had been raised that some flights might be available in Scotland and northern England for six hours between 4am and 10am today.

But air traffic control company Nats said restrictions had been reapplied until at least 1am tomorrow (Monday, April 19).

It means thousands of people, including some from Shropshire and Mid Wales, are stranded at home and abroad unable to catch flights.

The ash cloud created by an erupting volcano in Iceland is “moving around and changing shape”, Nats said.

If it “moves sufficiently”, some domestic flights may yet be able to take off from Scotland and Northern Ireland later today.

A Nats spokesman said: “Current forecasts show that the situation is worsening throughout Saturday. We are continuing to look for windows of opportunity to handle individual flights in UK controlled airspace.”

The cloud has prevented many flights from entering or leaving the UK since noon on Thursday – at a huge cost to the industry. Neil Morris, senior manager in the aviation team at Deloitte, said: “We estimate that the cost to British and Irish scheduled airlines from the closure of British airspace is likely to be between £26 million and £28 million per day.”

The crisis has been sparked by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland and northerly winds which have pushed the giant ash cloud over mainland Europe and Britain.

Experts say the ash can cause jet engines to shut down mid flight.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised to travellers, saying that he was sorry for the inconvenience.