THE travel plans of scores of air passengers across the region were disrupted as ash from the volcanic eruption in Iceland caused chaos.

Travellers and tour operators have told of massive flight disruption after clouds of volcanic ash drifted over the UK.

Lesley Jones, of Copmanthorpe, York, was due to fly to Girona, in Spain, from Newcastle at 7pm on Tuesday with tour operator Ryanair.

But after a lengthy delay passengers were told the flight had been cancelled.

“Call it female intuition, but I had a feeling of impending doom when I set off from York,” she said. “Not a happy flyer at the best of times, I was worried about the turbulence and the ash cloud warnings.

“The niggle didn’t go away, and the departures board at the airport should have been an indicator, as should the lack of movement on the runway. No trucks, no people and, most of all, no planes.

“The board was showing some flights were already delayed four hours, and every flight was told to wait until 6pm for info.”

At 7.01pm the airport announced all Ryanair flights were cancelled. The earliest flight Lesley can now catch is on Monday from Liverpool – at double the cost.

Lesley said her disappointment was echoed in the departure lounge.

“There was a family with four children due to go on a week-long holiday. They do not have the spare cash to book another flight without getting the refund first, and the dad could not change his holiday date. The four-year-old was inconsolable. Another couple were due to fly out with their 21-year-old daughter for her birthday celebration and a young soldier and his girlfriend were flying out to Spain for his leave.”

Paul Smith, of Quartz Travel in Heworth, York, said he had about 18 clients affected by the eruption.

“It has been a bit of a nightmare but after last year we were forearmed and forewarned. We managed to rearrange all our clients to London–based airports so they could continue with their journeys.”

The volcano began erupting last Saturday, sending clouds of ash into the air. But it appears to have stopped emitting ash at 2am on Wednesday, said Hrafn Gudmundsson of the Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Experts say it is on a different scale to that of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano last year, when millions of travellers were stranded.