All flights in and out of the UK have been suspended as ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland moves south.

Safety body Eurocontrol said up to 4,000 flights across northern Europe would be cancelled on Thursday.

The air traffic control service (Nats) said no flights would be allowed in or out of UK airspace until 1800BST amid fears of engine damage.

The airspace restriction was the most significant in living memory, a spokesman said.

Nats suggested that the restrictions were unlikely to be lifted after 1800, saying it was "very unlikely that the situation over England will improve in the foreseeable future".