Volcanic ash grounds flights grounded until at least 1pm Friday - VIDEO

Other airports also faced massive disruption, with Heathrow and Stansted suspending flights from midday.

Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports were shut while airports across the rest of the UK were also badly affected.

No non-emergency flights will not be allowed in or out of the UK before 1pm tomorrow at the earliest, air traffic control company Nats said this evening.

But a limited number of flights could run to and from Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland tomorrow morning.

A statement will be issued tomorrow on whether further services can resume later.

A NATS spokesman said: "We will review further Met Office information and at 2.30am tomorrow. We will advise the arrangements that will be in place through to 6pm tomorrow.

"However, be aware that the situation cannot be said to be improving with any certainty as the forecast affected area appears to be closing in from east to west.

"We continue to work closely with airports, airlines and the rest of Europe to understand and mitigate the implications of the volcanic eruption."

Passengers will now face a struggle for compensation. The European Commission confirmed tonight that travel operators remain liable to reimburse ticket fares or to re-route their stranded passengers - but will not have to pay financial compensation for delays or cancellations, because of the special circumstances.

With airspace and airports closed in EU countries including the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas made clear that some passenger rights would apply despite the "very exceptional circumstance".

He said the volcanic ash cloud was a very significant threat to air safety and national authorities were required by international law to take steps to ensure safety.

"In this case, the airports and those responsible for air traffic control have taken very swift and appropriate action to safeguard the public, and there is excellent co-ordination and co-operation at European level, notably within Eurocontrol.

"But, even in exceptional circumstances, EU passenger rights continue to apply and air travellers should speak up to claim their rights."

These include:

The right to receive information from airlines "on the situation as it evolves, cancellations and length of delays";

The right to care - "refreshments, meals, accommodation as appropriate";

The right to choose between reimbursement of fares or be re-routed to final destination.

Today's disruption follows the seven days of strikes by British Airways' cabin crew last month - an upheaval that sent travellers scurrying to the small print of their insurance policies.

Rochelle Turner, head of research for Which? Holiday magazine, said: "This is yet more bad news for air passengers in a year that has already seen much disruption to flights.

"Affected passengers are being offered a choice of a full refund or transfer on to another flight. But, airlines don't have to compensate passengers for loss of any additional elements to holidays, such as accommodation and car hire.

"It may be possible to claim for these additional elements on your travel insurance, but passengers will need to check their individual policies."

Jennifer Thomas, spokeswoman for Direct Line Travel Insurance, said: "In the first instance, customers are advised to check with their airline or tour operator. If an airline cancels a flight, then customers should claim for a new flight from their airline. If they have booked the flight on their credit card, the Consumer Credit Act could help with any claims made.

"If a customer has a flight cancelled and is refunded from the airline, but still has accommodation that they can't cancel or use, these claims can be considered under travel delay leading to trip abandonment."

She went on: "Customers will need to provide written official evidence to support any claims where it is reasonable to request such evidence. In this case, information from official airline websites is acceptable as evidence.

"As with all insurance policies, you are unable to insure for an event or incident after it has happened. Therefore, customers wishing to buy travel insurance today will not be covered for travel delay or missed departure arising from the volcanic ash as they are buying cover in the knowledge that there is a problem. This highlights the importance of buying travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday or flight."

Passengers at Leeds Bradford Airport had to make emergency travel arrangements.

Audrey del Buono Hair from Durham was due to fly to Italy for a one month holiday staying with Italian relatives.

She said: "I'm supposed to be on the 9.10am flight to Pisa. I've been greatly affected because the next available flight is on Saturday at 9.10am, so that's two days to kill. It's not worth my while going home to come back again, so I'm having to stay in a Travel Lodge for two nights then comer back and hope I depart on Saturday morning.

"I'm not happy with the information because it was all hearsay - no-one came to officially tell us for quite some time. I appreciate it's a natural phenomenon and there's nothing anyone can do."

Dot and Norman Taylor from Middlesborough were due to fly to Lanzarote. "We arrieved early for the flight to find they'd been cancelled," said Mrs Taylor.

"So now we have to wait and go back home. It's amazing - I've never seen them all cancelled. We've got to wait for someone to come and collect us and hopefull come back to catch another one tomorrow."

At Heathrow, a BAA spokesman said: "Due to airspace restrictions, in accordance with international regulations as a result of the on-going volcanic activity in Iceland, we anticipate that all flights in and out of Heathrow and Stansted airports will be suspended from 1200 today.

"Therefore, we strongly advise passengers intending to fly from this time not to travel to the airport today.

"We will provide further updates as we get more information from air traffic control provider Nats (National Air Traffic Service)."

About 1,300 flights go in and out of Heathrow every day.

A spokesman said: "There is going to be significant disruption, particularly in the peak periods later on."

A Stansted spokesman said 400 to 450 flights operated to and from the airport each day and it was hard to say how many would be affected.

He said: "Fortunately we have got past our busiest departure period.

"But this has the potential to affect flights tomorrow and beyond, depending on how long the restrictions are in place."

Around 50 members of the Great Britain Ice Hockey Supporters Club heading for the world championships in Slovenia were stranded at Stansted.

The club's merchandising secretary, Gordon McQuade, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said a party of supporters had been due to fly out this morning.

"The championships are taking place in Ljubljana but we are actually flying to Trieste because ironically Ljubljana airport is closed because the runway is being resurfaced.

"We were due to fly out with Ryanair this morning. All we have been told is that the flight is cancelled and we are just waiting to hear what is going to happen."

All flights from London airports will be suspended from midday.

A Gatwick spokesman said: "We are currently still open but from midday all London airports will have no flow, no arrivals or departures.

"At the moment we have had 147 cancellations. It's a matter of safety.

"We would like to remind passengers that they need to ring their airline before setting off."

Budget airline Ryanair said that from 9am, no further flights were operating to or from the UK today.

It added that cancellations and delays could also be expected tomorrow.

The restrictions were necessary because volcanic ash can damage aircraft engines.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in south-west Iceland after a volcanic eruption yesterday at Eyjafjalljokull, which is part of the Mount Katla range.

Forecasters believe the ash could take a number of days to disperse.

Matt Dobson, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "The concern is that as well as the eruption, the jet stream passing through Iceland is passing in a south easterly direction, which will bring ash to the north of Scotland and Denmark and Norway. But it is impossible to say how much ash will come down.

"It could be a threat in these areas from now until tomorrow or Friday."

Flights were disrupted at airports across the country, including Manchester and East Midlands, and flights in and out of Scotland were shut down indefinitely.

BAA Scotland Donald Morrison told BBC Scotland: "Clearly this volcanic ash presents a real danger to aircraft in Scottish airspace so NATS and the Met Office have taken the very sensible and safe precaution to cancel all outbound flights to and from Scotland.

"The advice to passengers at this time is, don't turn up to the airport. All flights to and from Scotland are suspended until further notice."

Passengers heading off for holidays faced disruption and disappointment as they arrived at airports.

Christine Campbell, 55, from Garelochhead, Argyll, who works at Faslane naval base, got to the Glasgow Airport at 5.30am for a flight at 6.45am as she was travelling to La Rochelle in France for her son's wedding. She was travelling with her daughter.

She said: "When we arrived we were told there were no flights going out today and to go home. But I wanted to come and wait anyway because I didn't want to miss anything.

"I`m really disappointed and upset because I've been looking forward to this wedding for two years and at the last minute there's this hiccup."

She was planning to try to get a train to London and then travel to France by Eurostar.

Ann Cochrane, 58, a market researcher originally from Beith in Ayrshire, was trying to get home to Toronto where she now lives.

She said: "I think I might cry. I just wish I was on a beach in Mexico. We took a cab at 7.30am this morning and they told us about what was going on and said we should go home.

"It's not so bad for us because we're only down the road so we will just hire a car for another day, but other people live hours away."

Newcastle International Airport said its airspace was closed at 7am.

Bristol Airport said around 20 flights had been affected by the problem, while Bournemouth Airport said one Ryanair flight to Dublin had been cancelled.

Thousands of passengers in Northern Ireland were also caught up in the air chaos, with the closure of Belfast International Airport and George Best Belfast City Airport.

The volcanic ash scare also caused Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable to cancel planned General Election campaign visits to Dunfermline and Edinburgh.

The plume of ash also prevented aircraft from leaving Birmingham International Airport, leading to the cancellation of around 70 flights.

Luton Airport said some airlines operating there had decided to cancel a number of flights.

Exeter Airport said it had cancelled eight flights up to 3.30pm today, but a spokeswoman said afternoon flights are being "reviewed".

Members of the health committee at the Northern Ireland Assembly were among the passengers turned back at Belfast City.

They were due to catch a flight to Leeds on their way to meetings in Bradford and Manchester with child protection staff in advance of introducing new safety measures next year.

City of Derry airport was also closed.