LONDON — Airports in northern England, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland were forced to close Sunday afternoon due to a dense cloud of volcanic ash drifting over from Iceland.
The shutdowns affected all airports in Northern Ireland, along with others in northern England — including the key cities of Manchester and Liverpool — as well as Prestwick in Scotland and other Scottish airports, Britain’s National Air Traffic Service said.
Aviation authorities expected London’s airports — including Heathrow, Europe’s busiest — to remain open until at least 7 p.m. EDT Sunday. But airports in Birmingham, about 175 kilometres northwest of London, and Norwich, on England’s east cost, were to close early Sunday evening.