Icelandic volcanic ash no joke if you marooned abroad

My family had no idea how fortunate we were flying in on Monarch Airlines from Cyprus on Wednesday 14th April 2010. After landing at Gatwick Airport Wednesday night, we had the usual tussle to get round the M25, but eventually made it home to Beaconsfield in Bucks blissfully unaware of the major event unfolding in Iceland. Sometimes in life we do not appreciate how fortunate we are, as many air travellers have now missed weddings, funerals, holidays, family events, business appointments and been massively disrupted.

The upside is that here in the UK we can now more appreciate National Express, bus and coach travel, our railways, and ferry services, as these have been the only means of travelling any distance. It also shows us how much our country, economy and lives depend on air travel, so hopefully it will be appreciated more, along with our bus, coach, rail and ferry services in the future.

My family are extremely grateful for being able to get home safely and on time and do feel for the tens of thousands in Europe who are stranded and who face a difficult task getting to where they want to be. I for one do tend to take our environment for granted, so it is a reminder to us all that it does not take a lot to upset the planets equilibrium, and that you can not beat nature!