Northern Germany has become the focus of disruption caused by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, but the situation is expected to start to ease over the course of the day.

The latest update from Eurocontrol said high ash densities meant that flights were still not being accepted into Bremen and Hamburg airports, which respectively handle around 120 and 480 flights daily.

Airspace over northern Germany was being closed from 11:00 local time and no arrivals or departures would be allowed at Berlin's airports, according to the airport website.

Otherwise, there were no traffic restrictions elsewhere in Europe.

According to forecasts from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London, the cloud was expected to continue to move gradually east, potentially causing problems for parts of Poland later in the day.

Overall, however, it was anticipated that the ash cloud coverage would dissipate during the day.

Ash coverage maps from the UK Meteorological Office showed the area of high density ash over northern Germany thinning as the day progressed.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news