Passengers left stranded as volcano cloud causes airport chaos

Taxi drivers were among the first to warn of cancellations, with airlines later sending out texts.

At Edinburgh airport Cameron and Kirsty White found their dream honeymoon to Singapore and Australia was delayed.

Mr White, 31, from Edinburgh, said: "There's a lot of uncertainty and this is eating into our time off work. I'd stayed up late last night and heard about the volcano but just joked, "we're not heading in that direction".

Crew members of the MT Montigny docked in Dundee were due to fly home to India on leave. Kasirarajan Karthik, 32, an engineer, said: "We left Dundee in a taxi at 1:30am but when we arrived here the police told us about the volcano. The helpdesk said there was no rebooking for three days."

At Glasgow airport, Dave Walker, 57, of Elgin, Moray, flying to Lanzarote, was looking for accommodation for his family. "Hopefully there will be a flight tomorrow. These things happen," he said.

Meanwhile in Italy, Morag Robertson, 39, a teacher at Newtongrange Primary, Midlothian, is trapped in Tuscany with her partner Mark and children Rosa, seven, and Robbie, two.

She said: "We were to fly back today but we've been told we can't leave until Tuesday. There are hundreds of people at the Ryanair desk. Information is minimal. The children are delighted they've an extra couple of days, but we have real problems as we're due back at work on Monday. We're praying flights get off the ground soon."