Cloudy logic

As well as the story of holidays wrecked, meetings missed and millions of pounds lost to businesses, there is the question over the quality of evidence used to make such a vital decision on closing airspace.

Clearly, passengers' safety should never be compromised but the number of test flights which survived unscathed last time the cloud appeared, as well as the range of dissenting voices this time around, should give the Civil Aviation Authority pause for thought.

No aeroplane should risk flying over the mouth of the volcano but the case for declaring a no-fly zone hundreds of miles away, across Yorkshire, northern England and Scotland, is less obvious.

Apparently similar conditions in France last week did not result in the widespread cancellation of flights.

The competing claims of airlines, aviation controllers and politicians have created another cloud of confusion over Britain. It is time these groups got together and produced some clarity for the rest of the country.