26 European Countries Close Parts of Airspace

At least 26 countries in Europe closed parts of their airspace, leaving would-be travelers stranded across the globe Saturday as scientists warned that volcanic ash from Iceland could continue drifting across northern Europe for days to come.
"The ash will continue to be directed towards Britain and Scandinavia," Teitur Arason, a meteorologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told AFP."That's the general situation for the coming days ... more or less for the next two days, or maybe the next four or five days." Just 10,400 of Friday's usual 28,000 flights in European airspace took off-and only 6,000 were approved for Saturday, out of 22,000-said EUROCONTROL, the European airspace authority."In some ... areas the upper airspace has been made available, depending on the observed and forecasted area of ash contamination. However, it is difficult to access this airspace as in most cases the surrounding area is not available for flights," it said...

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Picture Left:Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokul April 17, 2010.(REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)