Hundreds of thousands of passengers were stranded across Europe yesterday as a huge cloud of ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland drifted over the north of the continent.

Aviation authorities announced that no commercial flights would be allowed in or out of Britain until 7am local time on Friday at the earliest, disrupting flights with the rest of the world. All flights have been suspended until further notice at Heathrow, one of the world's busiest hubs; airports across the rest of the country have also been closed.

“Volcanic ash represents a significant safety threat to aircraft,” the UK's National Air Traffic Service said. “We are monitoring the situation with the Met Office, Eurocontrol [the European aviation air traffic control authority] and neighbouring countries, and working closely with the airlines to help inform their decisions about their operations.”