The volcanic ash cloud looks set to cause further travel disruption in the coming days after more than 700 flights were cancelled across Europe over the weekend.
The latest aerial shutdown saw airports in Ireland, southern France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany close because of the ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano.
Flights were grounded from airports across the UK including Belfast, Derry, London Stansted, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.
Airports in Ireland reopened after a brief closure but budget airlines easyJet and Ryanair warned that more flights across southern Europe may have to be cancelled.
It follows the Met Office’s prediction that changing weather patterns could bring ash back into parts of UK airspace this week.
The northern-most parts of Britain have already been affected.
Stornoway airport in the outer Hebrides closed before later re-opening.
Barra airport, also in the outer Hebrides, was closed as it was in the no-fly zone between 7pm yesterday and 1am today.
Another higher level ash cloud hanging over the Atlantic caused westbound flights to re-route to avoid it, adding several hours to flights between Europe and North America.
The mid-Atlantic plume is touching parts of Portugal and Spain, affecting airports at Porto, La Coruna, Vigo, and Santiago.
In all more than 200 flights were grounded in Portugal, including 71 at Lisbon, where Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive on Tuesday for a four-day visit to the country.
The Vatican said the Pope’s trip was still on schedule despite the disruptions.
On Saturday, a number of flights from the UK and Ireland were grounded and 19 Spanish airports were forced to close.
It remains unclear at this stage whether the annual Cannes Film festival, which opens on Wednesday, will be affected by the flight disruptions.
