NO FLY ZONE . . . IN ENGLAND ! ! !

My main concern is for the mail to Iraq, as I have several boxes in transit. I have not heard of a mail stop, so hopefully it is going through the Azores, or something.

The eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull has now grounded much of Bermuda’s intended mail deliveries.

Mail and packages which were destined for Great Britain, European or Asian transits sent out today [Apr 16] and in the last 2 days are detained in Toronto “until further notice”.

The volcano erupted on Wed Apr 14, and has been spewing ash clouds into the atmosphere.

Due to safety risks, flight officials made the call to cancel thousands of flights, including the British Airways flights in and out of Bermuda for today [Apr 16] and yesterday.

The Bermuda Post office have stated that all data express items, letters, parcels and registered mail that was dispatched on April 14, 15, and 16 which were destined for Great Britain, European or Asian Transits have left the Island, but will be detained in Toronto until further notice. The Bermuda Post Office apologized to customers for this inconvenience.

The railways aren't really effected ... besides being full. If your mail has booked a seat - all will be okay.

Millions of stranded travellers face further air chaos as the volcanic ash from Iceland that has closed most of Europe's airspace continues to spread.

"We don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet," a spokesman for the international airline industry said.

An estimated three-quarters of flights were cancelled on Saturday. About 20 countries closed their airspace - some have extended flight bans into Monday.

Scientists say the Icelandic volcano activity shows no sign of abating.

... ... ...

In the original incident the aircraft flew far closer to the volcano than anyone is proposing they fly now. And when the emergency occurred they didnt know what it was...totally different scenario to now.

The UK government's plan to rescue British travellers stranded by the volcanic ash cloud is developing. This is what we know so far - more details are emerging through the day. Bookmark this page and come back to it regularly to find out more information.

Before travelling, check the most up to date details with British consular officials as the situation is subject to change.

ROYAL NAVY SHIPS

The UK's emergency committee Cobra has been meeting to come up with an action plan which at the moment focuses on tasking Royal Navy ships to pick up people who cannot currently leave Europe.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed that three Royal Navy ships have been identified for the mission.

HMS Ark Royal and HMS Ocean are to go to the English Channel - but we do not know yet where they will be docking in France.

HMS Ark Royal's job will be to pick up stranded holiday makers and get them back to the UK. The aircraft carrier is currently off the coast of north-west Scotland because it was taking part in a major military exercise called Operation Joint Warrior. It may not reach the English Channel until Tuesday evening.

HMS Ocean looks like an aircraft carrier but is classed as an assault ship, designed to carry troops, landing craft and attack helicopters. It will join Ark Royal on the ferrying mission. It is currently in the western approaches to the UK within British territorial waters. Mr Brown said he expected the vessel to be in the English Channel later on Monday.

HMS Albion is another type of assault vessel known as a "Landing Platform Dock Ship" which is designed to deploy large numbers of troops to a location. It can carry 256 staff or troops plus a further 405 in overload capacity. Albion is being tasked to head for northern Spain where it will arrive at 0930 on Tuesday, It will pick up 220 troops from 3rd Battalion, The Rifles. These troops have finished a tour of duty in Afghanistan and will be flown to Santander from Cyprus.

1623 The Met office has warned that the volcano's activity has started to increase.

Aerial video of ash over Iceland

A Met spokesman told the BBC that whereas eruptions had subsided this morning to between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, they had increased within the past two hours back to a height of 10,000 ft.

Although this is not back to the initial maximum height of 30,000 ft, the spokesman said the unpredictable nature of the volcano's activity meant that there was still cause for concern.

The planes will fly to Frankfurt, Munich and Duesseldorf under visual flight rules, he said, noting that air traffic control is still keeping its restrictions on German airspace.

"We have an exception that allows us to fly so-called visual flight rules," he said.

Visual flight rules allow a pilot to fly the airplane without reference to instruments, if weather conditions are good enough so the pilot can see landmarks and avoid any other aircraft. Those flights need to be under 18,000 feet, lower than usual altitude for commercial traffic.