Around 6:30 a.m. we had crossed the Irish Sea and were flying over North Wales, just as Angie was setting off from Amesbury to meet me at Heathrow. She was travelling at around 70 mph. while our plane monitor told me that we were doing 500 mph. It took exactly 30 minutes from the plane landing for me to find a seat near the Costa coffee shop to wait for Angie, slowed down by rush hour traffic, to arrive.
As we approached Heathrow, the pilot announced that passengers transferring to other flights at Heathrow should contact their airline information desks as there was a threat of flight cancellations due to a cloud of ash drifting from Iceland to the UK. It looks as if I had left taken a later flight from LA, it might well have been cancelled or diverted, so a lucky escape!
From the BBC News website:
Airline passengers are facing massive disruption across the UK after an ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland grounded planes.
The Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) said no flights would be allowed in or out of UK airspace from midday to 1800BST amid fears of engine damage.
The restrictions were imposed after the Met Office warned the ash was sufficient to clog engines. Passengers were also affected in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Passengers were advised to contact their carriers prior to travel.
Experts have warned that the tiny particles of rock, glass and sand contained in the ash cloud would be sufficient to jam aircraft engines …..
The Cactus Trip Diaries 
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