ALL flights within the UK will be grounded from noon because of the ash cloud coming from a volcano in Iceland.

The National Air Traffic Service has now said it is restricting all flights from noon through to at least 6pm except in emergencies. It is expected to include Oxford Airport, based at Kidlington, but has not affected the repatriation of the body of Fusilier Jonathan Burgess today. The ceremony will still take place at about 3.45pm.

Passengers are advised to check with their airline for alternate arrangements.

A NATS spokesman said: "From midday today until at least 6pm, there will be no flights permitted in UK controlled airspace other than emergency situations. This has been applied in accordance with international civil aviation policy.

"We continue to monitor the situation with the Met Office and work closely with airline customers and adjoining countries."

An Oxford Airport spokesman said it had not had official confirmation of that decision yet.

There is also a live radar picture of the state of the planes currently in the air through the link at the bottom of this page.

Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports were amongst the first to shut while other airports across the rest of the UK were also badly affected.

A BAA spokesman said: "Due to airspace restrictions, in accordance with international regulations as a result of the on-going volcanic activity in Iceland, we anticipate that all flights in and out of Heathrow and Stansted airports will be suspended from 1200 today.

"Therefore, we strongly advise passengers intending to fly from this time not to travel to the airport today. We will provide further updates as we get more information from air traffic control provider NATS."

Before the decision by NATS, a Gatwick spokesman said: "We are currently still open but from midday all London airports will have no flow, no arrivals or departures. At the moment we have had 147 cancellations. It's a matter of safety."

Budget airline Ryanair said that from 9am, no further flights were operating to or from the UK. The restrictions are necessary because volcanic ash can damage aircraft engines. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in south-west Iceland after the volcanic eruption at Eyjafjalljokull.

Forecasters believe the ash could take a number of days to disperse.

Matt Dobson, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "The concern is that as well as the eruption, the jet stream passing through Iceland is passing in a south easterly direction, which will bring ash to the north of Scotland and Denmark and Norway. But it is impossible to say how much ash will come down."

Newcastle International Airport said its airspace was closed at 7am. Bristol Airport said around 20 flights had been affected by the problem, while Bournemouth Airport said one Ryanair flight to Dublin had been cancelled.