Flights grounded in Birmingham as volcanic ash causes chaos
All non-emergency flights were grounded in the UK from noon today as ash from Iceland's volcanic eruption caused travel chaos.
The disruption, which also hit Irish and north European airspace, left thousands of travellers stranded at home and abroad.
National Air Traffic Services said all flights in UK airspace were grounded from noon to 6pm at the earliest.
A Nats spokesman said: "From midday today until at least 6pm, there will be no flights permitted in UK controlled airspace other than emergency situations.
"This has been applied in accordance with international civil aviation policy.
"We continue to monitor the situation with the Met Office and work closely with airline customers and adjoining countries."
Hundreds of flights across the UK were already cancelled and airports in Scotland closed indefinitely.
A Heathrow spokesman said: "We strongly advise passengers intending to fly from this time (12pm) not to travel to the airport today.
"We will provide further updates as we get more information from air traffic control provider Nats."
About 1,300 flights and 180,000 passengers go in and out of Heathrow every day.
Gatwick had been due to host 679 flights carrying 80,000 passengers.
At Stansted about 50 members of the Great Britain Ice Hockey Supporters Club heading for the world championships in Slovenia were stranded.
A spokesman said the Essex airport would normally have handled 264 flights from noon until the end of the day today.
He went on: "Fortunately a lot of the holiday flights leave quite early in the morning and all these got away OK.
