Volcanic ash: Now a million Britons stranded

Holidaymakers faced a grim weekend, with weather forecasters and transport chiefs warning of significant disruption for at least the next 48 hours due to the volcanic ash.

All flights in England and Wales were grounded until at least 1pm today, although there was a possibility that flights could resume during a brief window between 4am and 10am in Manchester, Liverpool and all airports further north.

As British holidaymakers told of their travel misery, the Association of British Travel Agents revealed the huge scale of disruption.

A spokesman said: “We estimate there could be as many as a million British people stranded abroad.”

And the number of Britons trying to get home is set to swell as more travellers come to the end of their holidays.

A Civilian Aviation Authority spokesman said: “The number of British passengers stuck abroad will grow by 250,000 every 24 hours that the airports remain closed.

“We are advising all passengers to check with their airline before they travel and not to go the airport.”

Analysts at accountants KPMG said the cost of the delays to airlines was £200million a day. More than 500,000 people fly in and out of the UK daily on around 5,300 flights.

The cost to airlines from further delays and hotel bills could eventually top £1billion.

The chaos has led to huge demand for ferry services, while all 58 of Eurostar’s Channel Tunnel train services were sold out for the second day. More than 46,000 people used the service yesterday.

But hundreds of thousands of other holidaymakers across Europe face a long wait before they can get home.

The worst hit was Spain, Britain’s number one holiday destination, where hundreds of flights to the UK were cancelled yesterday.

Some travellers have been told they may have to wait 10 days before they can return home.

Anne Murray, 52, and her partner Neil McLean, 48, from Renfrew, near Glasgow, were booked on an easyJet flight from Malaga yesterday afternoon but have been told they will not be able to get home until April 26.

Mr McLean was due to start a new job on an oil rig on Monday.

Miss Murray said: “It’s a very long wait. EasyJet are paying for our hotel but we’re desperate to get home.”

Cancer sufferer Isobel Duffield and her husband Victor, from Wincanton, Somerset, were due to return to Bristol from Malaga with Ryanair. She urgently needs to get back to the UK for a hospital appointment.

Mr Duffield, 71, said: “Ryanair expect you to do everything online and I’m afraid, I am not very computer literate. We really need to get back for Isobel’s appointment on Monday but we can’t get any information whatsoever.”

Baker Darren Barker and wife Stacey, from Sheffield, were left stranded with their two children after a week’s holiday in Torremolinos, Spain.

Their easyJet flight to Manchester was cancelled and they were told they will not get home until next Friday. Mrs Barker, 28, said: “Darren has his own bakery business so needs to get back as soon as possible.

“It sounds great having an extra week of your holiday but when you run your own business it can be disastrous.

“The weather’s terrible down here at the moment as well, so the kids are going to get bored senseless.”

Last night easyJet apologised to passengers but admitted it could take many days to get stranded passengers home once UK airspace was finally opened.

A spokesman said: “It is a very busy period and passengers may have to wait up to a week to get back home due to the extent of the disruption.”

No one from Ryanair was available for comment when contacted by the Daily Express, although the airline later announced it had cancelled all flights to and from the UK until 1pm on Monday.

British Airways said it was cancelling all flights to and from all London airports today.

However, the lockdown for a large part of Scottish airspace, which includes Shetland, the Orkneys and Northern Ireland, was lifted from 7pm last night.