THE Scottish Government has held an emergency meeting to discuss the impact of a new ash cloud spewing out of an Icelandic volcano amid warnings it will hit the north of the country by midday tomorrow. Just over a year since volcanic eruptions in Iceland closed airspace across 34 countries, causing thousands of flights across Europe to be cancelled and bringing travel chaos to millions of passengers, the prospect of a renewed disruption has arisen.

On Saturday, Grimsvötn, Iceland's most active volcano at the heart of its biggest glacier, began erupting, sending a plume of smoke and ash 12 miles high. So much ash was blasted into the sky that it blocked out the sun and covered nearby villages and farms. By yesterday, the ash had reached Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, nearly 250 miles to the west, and all the country's airspace was closed down.

Loganair has cancelled almost all its flights in Scotland on Tuesday because of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland. The airline operates services from Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh to Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, as well as Islay, Tiree and Campbeltown. It also provides a service from Dundee to Birmingham and Belfast. A total of 38 flights will be grounded. Only inter-island routes in Orkney are unaffected.

The latest information forecast from the Met Office said an area of volcanic ash would affect some parts of Scotland between 1800 BST and midnight. All Scottish airports remain open with a further update expected at 2100 BST.

HUNDREDS of passengers faced flight cancellations from Edinburgh airport today as an Icelandic ash cloud closed in on Britain. Most airlines cancelled services in and out of the Capital and airport bosses said the slower-than-expected movement of the cloud meant the disruption could last longer.

Some 400 people spent last night camping out at the airport after their flights yesterday were cancelled because of high winds. An airport spokesman said: "It has been a double whammy with yesterday's severe weather and now the ash cloud."

AS FLIGHT disruption continues today, some travellers have been given hope that air transport may avoid chaos on a par with the scenes seen during last year's Eyjafjallajökull eruption. Meteorologists predicted the ash cloud covering Scotland would leave in the early hours of today.

However, the knock-on effect of yesterday's flight cancellations means many face further problems, with airlines telling passengers to check before travelling and some cancelling flights scheduled for today last night. But strong winds should mean the ash will be blown from Scottish skies. Airports in England may also avoid the sort of problems that brought long-term chaos last April.

AIR travel in Scotland has returned to a near-normal service as the Icelandic volcano which caused widespread flight chaos earlier this week stopped spewing out ash. The Grímsvötn volcano, which generated a more powerful eruption than that of Eyjafjallajokull a year ago, finally stopped producing an ash plume in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Last night, it was pumping out only a small amount of steam, meteorologists said. But the fallout from the volcano continued to blight European flights as the ash cloud made its way across the continent - and experts warned that further seismic activity could cause more ash eruptions later in the week.