Flights across much of Europe will be severely disrupted well into Saturday because of drifting ash ejected from a volcano in Iceland.

Much of the airspace across northern and western Europe is closed, with fewer than half the usual number of flights expected to operate on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of passengers have been affected by the restrictions amid the worst travel chaos since 9/11. Scientists say the volcano is still erupting but producing less ash. More countries imposed either full or partial airspace closures on Friday, while some northern regions began to relax restrictions as the ash cloud slowly drifted south.

Among the latest developments:

• Ryanair cancels all flights in northern Europe until 1300 GMT on Monday
• Hungary said it would shut its airspace from 1900 (1700 GMT)
• Switzerland said it would follow suit from midnight (2200 GMT)
• Romania said it would close airspace over the north-west of the country from 0300 (0000 GMT) on Saturday
• A ban on flights over England and Wales was extended to 0600 GMT on Saturday. Flights over a large part of Scottish airspace and Northern Ireland will be allowed to resume from 1800 GMT

The UK's National Air Traffic Service (Nats) said trans-Atlantic flights would be able to operate to and from the re-opened airspace, but stressed this did not mean all such flights would resume. The disruption has affected hundreds of thousands of travellers since Wednesday when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano began erupting for the second time in a month, hurling a plume of ash 11km (seven miles) into the atmosphere.

The cancellations also threaten to affect the funeral on Sunday of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who was killed in a plane crash last Saturday, with the attendance of many world leaders now uncertain.The European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said the ensuing chaos was worse on Friday than the previous day, and warned of "significant disruption" to air traffic on Saturday. With the volcanic ash able to bring down aircraft, some 60% of flights in Europe have been grounded, and more than half of trans-Atlantic flights cancelled, the European air traffic agency, Eurocontrol, said.

At a news conference in Brussels on Friday afternoon, the agency warned travellers to expect significant disruption on Saturday, as the ash moves south and east. Europe's busiest airports, including London's Heathrow, Frankfurt and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, are among dozens affected, with a succession of countries announcing further planned shutdowns.

In addition to the impact on commuters, the grounding of thousands of flights has cost airlines about $200m a day, according to the International Air Transport Association. But the chaos has benefited rail, bus and ferry tour operators, who have laid on extra services, and many hotels have filled up with stranded travellers. As the volcanic ash drifted south, Sweden began reopening its northern airspace. Officials said restrictions further south would be lifted gradually on Friday. Norway allowed some flights in the north as well. The Irish Republic also opened its airspace apart from a block off the south coast, putting Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports back into operation.

Source: bbc.co.uk