Another Ash Cloud Closes UK Airports

Another wave of Icelandic volcanic ash is drifting toward Europe, closing airports for the second time this week in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Authorities believe the airports may reopen later today, but warn that more closures are possible if the clouds drift south, CNN reports. Airport closures at short notice are something travelers will have to get used to for many months to come, warn aviation officials.

"There's no doubt about it, we're probably facing a summer of uncertainty due to this ash cloud," said the chief of Ireland's aviation authority. Transport ministers from EU nations—minus Ireland's transport chief, whose plane was grounded by ash—met yesterday to hammer out a Europe-wide action plan for dealing with the problems caused by Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which experts say could keep spewing ash into the air indefinitely.
(More Eyjafjallajokull glacier stories.)