It was a respite so unexpected that at first it was barely noticeable. As dawn broke around the country yesterday there was one sound missing - the ever-present hum of passenger jets flying overhead. The ashy fury of a volcano 700 miles away did what terrorists, blizzards and ice could not - brought the airways to a halt. Those living near airports all remarked on the strange new sound: Silence. It was as if someone had turned the clock back to an age before the passenger jet. In the streets around Heathrow, the silence was unnerving. That's what happens when you go from 1,200 flights a day to none.'It is really strange,' said a Heathrow security worker. 'You don't think about it when you hear it every day, but when it stops you really notice it.' The silence extended well beyond the skies. Roads to Terminal 5 were empty and inside anyone wanting to admire the facilities could do so with ease. There was one short-lived queue, but only for morning coffee. 'It's the first time in 27 years that I've know the airport to close,' said one worker. But there was still some business to be done. Four bags were dropped in left luggage and a mobile phone shop had two customers - a police officer and a stewardess. In arrivals, there was one inbound passenger. Cathy arrived in a hire car from Edinburgh. 'I thought the trains in London would be chaos so it would be easier to catch one from here,' she said. (Daily Mail)
