Air passengers have endured further delays and cancellations as the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud continued to cause problems for flights.

Early-morning services to and from Portugal and Spain were delayed and there were also delays to some transatlantic services including some from Gatwick Airport.

Passengers on two Virgin Atlantic flights leaving from Gatwick faced particularly long delays, with the 11.15am service to Orlando in Florida not due to leave until 4.15pm and the 11.25am flight to Las Vegas now departing at 5.45pm.

There were also delays to flights to Canadian and Caribbean destinations.

But all UK airports were open and most of the continental European airports which had been shut over the weekend were operating normally.

Low-fare airline easyJet, which had to axe some flights on Sunday, said it was operating a near-normal service with "only a very small number of cancellations".

An easyJet spokesman added: "It's a much better picture for passengers today."

Another budget carrier, Ryanair, which had to cancel some flights on Sunday, put on four extra Canary Island services on Monday to help passengers unable to travel at the weekend.

Airports and airlines continued to urge passengers to check the latest information before travelling to their airport.