Flights resume as ash cloud clears

Flights resumed across the UK today rescuing the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of Britons.

Icelandic weather officials also said no ash plume has been seen from the volcano since 3am, raising hopes the eruption had stopped.

However, in Germany 700 flights were cancelled as the cloud moved across central Europe. Berlin's Schonefeld and Tegel airports and Hamburg airport were expected to remain closed until mid-afternoon.

Forecasters still fear the ash could return to UK airspace on Friday, the start of the Whitsun bank holiday weekend. The latest predictions show a high density cloud engulfing Britain, which could cause major disruption to flights. Met Office projections show that it could disappear entirely from UK skies by Saturday, and clear further away on Sunday.

More than 250 flights were cancelled across Europe yesterday and Scotland became a virtual no-fly zone.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond today insisted that the authorities had been right to take a safety-first approach as he stepped up criticism of Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary.

Mr O'Leary accused the Civil Aviation Authority of "bureaucratic incompetence" and hit out at "erroneous" charts from the Met Office for grounding his planes, claiming a test flight had shown no danger.

Mr Hammond said the intervention was "not helpful", describing it as an "off-the-cuff" declaration. "Safety of passengers and aircraft will be our number one consideration and we won't be bullied by Michael O'Leary or anybody else into dropping that safety-first approach," he told Sky News. The Transport Secretary insisted the disruption had been "much less" than it would have been if the eruption had happened last year.

He also raised hopes that flights will not be affected if the cloud returns on Friday, saying planes might be able to travel under it or even through it if concentration levels have dispersed.

Dr David Rothery, of the Open University Volcano Dynamics Group, said there had been a rapid decline in activity at Grimsvötn. "I am cautiously optimistic that the main ash-producing phase of this eruption has now ceased. However it will be back - next week, next year, or more likely next decade."