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Warning of ash flight disruption | Warning of ash flight disruption |
(20 minutes later) | |
Parts of the UK's airspace are at risk of closure from Sunday because of volcanic activity in Iceland, the Department for Transport has said. | Parts of the UK's airspace are at risk of closure from Sunday because of volcanic activity in Iceland, the Department for Transport has said. |
Disruption could affect some of the UK's busiest airports in south-east England until Tuesday, it warned. | Disruption could affect some of the UK's busiest airports in south-east England until Tuesday, it warned. |
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said passenger safety was the government's top priority. | Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said passenger safety was the government's top priority. |
Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused disruption to thousands of flights during April. | Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused disruption to thousands of flights during April. |
Airspace across Europe was shut down for five days following concerns that ash could turn to molten glass in high temperatures, crippling plane engines. | |
Scientists and engineers have since revised the safe to fly threshold, but clouds of volcanic ash have continued to drift over Europe, causing airport closures, flight delays and cancellations. | |
Prediction charts | Prediction charts |
In the past week, several airports in southern Europe were forced to close and flights were re-routed. | In the past week, several airports in southern Europe were forced to close and flights were re-routed. |
Ministers have agreed on Saturday that five-day ash prediction charts would be made available on the Met Office website. | Ministers have agreed on Saturday that five-day ash prediction charts would be made available on the Met Office website. |
"Within this timeframe, different parts of UK airspace - including airspace in the South East - are likely to be closed at different times," the Department of Transport said in a statement. | "Within this timeframe, different parts of UK airspace - including airspace in the South East - are likely to be closed at different times," the Department of Transport said in a statement. |
Previous forecasts were only given for the following 18 hours. | Previous forecasts were only given for the following 18 hours. |
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the five-day forecasts would ensure "airlines, other transport providers and the public [had] the best possible information". | |
But he stressed the situation "remained fluid" and the forecasts - based on assumptions about future volcanic activity and prevailing weather conditions - were "always liable to change". | |
"Nats - the UK's air traffic services provider - will advise of any airspace closures as and when they become necessary and I urge passengers to check with their airlines before taking any action," he added. |