Volcanic ash cloud causes air travel chaos

A cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland swept toward mainland Europe, with airspace over the United Kingdom closed to flights until Friday evening, officials said.

It could take up to 48 hours for the ash to clear from U.K. airspace, a scientist said, and the cloud forced up to 6,000 flight cancellations across the continent, according to the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel.

Thousands of flights and untold numbers of travelers were affected as some of Europe's busiest airports closed, including London's Heathrow, Amsterdam's Schiphol, and Paris' Charles de Gaulle.

The prime minister of Norway was among those stranded by the closure of European airspace.

Jens Stoltenberg, who was in New York for President Barack Obama's nuclear summit, is running the Norwegian government from the United States via his new iPad, his press secretary Sindre Fossum Beyer said.