Several airports in and around London were closed early Monday morning as the latest wave of volcanic ash from Iceland moved southward, aviation authorities said.

An airspace ban issued by the British National Air Traffic Service late Sunday affected Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City airports, where flights may resume from 7:00 a.m. Monday (0600 GMT).

Airports in northern England which closed Sunday will be reopened as the volcanic ash drifts southward, but Northern Ireland and some parts of Scotland will remain subject to the no-fly zone restrictions, the authorities said.

The ash has forced airports in Ireland to be closed from Sunday to at least 9:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Monday.

More airports across the European continent will be affected by the moving ash cloud. In the Netherlands, the authorities have decided to close Amsterdam and Rotterdam airports from 6:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) to 2:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) on Monday.

British weather forecast service said the ash was driven by northwest wind.

Airspace across Europe was almost completely shut down for about a week last month after the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland had erupted and spewed ash clouds across Europe.

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