Ireland bans Tuesday flights

Ireland's Aviation Authority says it's banning all flights in and out of Ireland for six hours on Tuesday because of a renewed risk of volcanic ash drifting south from Iceland.

The authority says all flights in and out of Irish airports will be banned from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. EDT, the authority said.

It says in a statement the decision is based on the safety risk as a result of the southward drift of the volcanic ash cloud.

The authority says the restrictions do not affect planes flying over Ireland from Britain and Europe.

Iceland's Meteorological Office says a change of wind direction in the past few days has meant the ash cloud was blowing south and southeast toward Europe, rather than northward.

(See map of no-fly zone.)

-- Associated Press