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We've all seen those wispy white trails that aircraft leave in the skies. Until now, scientists have been unable to calculate the impact on weather of these vapour trails. That is until post 9/11.

The grounding of flights for three days after the 11 September attacks gave scientists in the US a unique opportunity to see what the weather would be like with no air traffic at all.

They compared temperatures at 4,000 weather stations across the country with figures for the previous three decades at the same time of year. Their findings show that the gap between daytime and night time temperatures was more than one degree Celsius larger than normal when flights were at a standstill.

This is thought to be because the jet trails reflect sunlight and trap heat. That makes the day cooler and the night warmer where air traffic is heavy. However, the effect is almost certainly outweighed by the global warming influence of greenhouse gases, created by the burning of fuel including emissions from jet engines.

Airlines in Europe will have to pay increased compensation to passengers who are stranded by cancellations or overbooking on flights if new legislation is approved.

At present, passengers who are forced to take a later flight because of overbooking – a common practice among carriers – or find their flight has been cancelled get between EUR150 and EUR300.

The new levels of compensation are lower than figures first proposed by the European Commission that were proposed at between EUR750 and EUR1500 depending on length of flight. Travelers on short haul services that are “bumped” from a flight or are affected by a cancellation, can now claim EUR200 (USD$195).

Those on longer flights can be compensated by up to EUR600 (USD$586). Some low cost carriers have warned that the proposals, passed by the European Parliament on Thursday, could mean a rise in fares unless carriers are willing to accept lower profit. The low cost airlines are unhappy about this and believe that the level of compensation should be adjusted to the price of the passenger ticket, rather than a flat rate covering every airline.

Not covered by this new compensation are events outside the direct control of carriers, including poor weather, long running strikes and security matters.

The Beetle knows that a lot of readers are interested in tracing their ancestors, and come to the UK and Ireland to do just that, so this piece in BritainExpress.com caught her little Beetle eye.

Everyone from amateur historians, genealogists, students and teachers through to tourists and parents will be able to gain something a new website dedicated to British history, history.uk.com

History.uk.com has a dedicated editorial team ensuring that the site is updated daily and showcases regular online features.

Source: britainexpress.com

There are a few to choose from, so we thought we'd tell prospective visitors to London about the top four, plus the Harrods coach.

The convenient thing about taking one of these tours is that you can get to see pretty much all of the major sites of historical importance in one day, and this can save a lot of shoe leather, tube journeys and strange bus journeys going in the wrong direction!

Once you've “done” the touristy thing, there are plenty of less famous sites of equal interest to keep all site seers happy. And this includes mastering the London bus by not going in the wrong direction….we drive on the left, you see!

Convenient places to board these tours include St Pauls Cathedral, St. Martins-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, Baker Street underground station, Haymarket Street just off Piccadilly Circus, and opposite Victoria Station at Grosvenor Gardens.

Coach and Bus Tours – Harrods in Knightsbridge offer a 90 minute coach tour around the city. Sign up at the store.

The following three companies offer double-decker bus tours that feature hop-off service. The Big Bus Co has an all-night service if you just can't wait to see the sights after you arrive (or you are suffering from jet-lag and your body hasn't caught up to local time).

The Big Bus Company

Adults £16, children £6

bigbus.co.uk

Email: info@bigbus.co.uk

London Pride

Adults £15

Children £7.50 londonpride.co.uk

The Original London SightseeingTour

Adults £15, children £7.50

theoriginaltour.com

Under 30? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

Whilst walking her dog, a local hotelier on Staffin island, off Skye found a dinosaur footprint dating from the Jurassic period in rock on the beach.

Experts say huge meat-eating dinosaurs that left their prints in the sand 165 million years ago probably made the tracks. Scientists have described the discovery on the east coast of the Isle of Skye as significant.

A passenger on a Virgin Atlantic flight has won a GBP£13,000 (USD$20,000) award after being injured by an obese woman in the next seat.

Barbara Hewson, from Swansea in Wales, was travelling economy class from London to Los Angeles, 11 long hours when the incident happened. She suffered injuries to her chest, torn leg muscles and developed sciatica after being crushed by the oversized passenger.

The woman next to Ms Hewson, was so large she had to raise the armrest to fit into the seat and because the flight was full there was no alternative seat so the woman's arm rested on Hewson's chest for much of the journey. Ms Hewson is only 4 feet 11 inches tall. When the flight arrived in Los Angeles Hewson was admitted to hospital.

Source: airnews.com

LAPA, the Argentinean domestic airline went belly up a while back but the name LAPA is to be revived by new owners who rescued it from receivership. It has been operating as AIRG since the Aeroandina group raised capital in both Argentina and Bolivia to put it back in business. Plans are afoot to start regional services to Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Chilean cities of Santiago and Puerto Montt and to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, by the end of this year.

Due to the dreadful and unpredictable event in Bali, the new Bali based airline Air Paradise, which was due to start flying in October 2002, said it was delaying its launch indefinitely and refunding tickets it has already sold. The airline was due to make its first flights to the Australian cities of Perth and Melbourne.

According to union sources, a one-day strike planned by Air France unions for October 24 has been switched to November 5.

Workers are protesting over French government plans to privatise the French flag carrier and reduce the state's controlling stake.

Expanding Australian budget airline Virgin Blue plans to add flights to New Zealand to its schedules and will cause a few ruffled feathers in the Australian flight market, largely operated by Air New Zealand and Qantas. Virgin Blue was launched in August 2000 with a single route between Brisbane and Sydney. It now serves thirteen Australian destinations. Now, Virgin Blue plans a code share arrangement with United Airlines so that it will be faster and easier for booking flights from Brisbane to San Francisco and Los Angeles and beyond.

Meanwhile, back in the US, Boston Logan Airport is to introduce security scanners that can make immediate checks on driving licenses and passports against government databases or “watch lists.” Despite concerns expressed by civil liberties groups, the airport said it will go ahead with the system. Initially, it will only be used to check around 10,000 people who work at Logan. However, the airport's operators, Massachusetts Port Authority, say they would like to see the system extended and in tests carried out during the Summer discovered a number of passengers flying out of the international departures on forged passports.

Passengers due to fly into or out of Stansted (the Beetle's most HATED airport, ever) near London may want to alter their travel plans if this involves early morning or late evening flights.

Due to alleged rail improvements, from Sunday 29th September 2002 through to Spring 2004, all Sunday train services to and from Stansted Airport will be replaced by a slow coach service.

Incidentally, the last coach leaves Stansted at midnight on Sunday for Liverpool St station and 11pm from Liverpool St. First coach to Stansted from Liverpool St is allegedly at 4.30am and 5am from Stansted to Liverpool St. You have been warned, and allow plenty of time – preferably around 2 hours journey time! Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport is closing down international services from Terminal 2 at the end of October week due to reduced numbers of passengers. The decision, by the Israel Airports Authority, is part of a series of cost-cutting measures, according to daily newspaper Haaretz. If international passengers start to increase the Terminal 2 facility may reopen.

Where is Europe's largest and most active volcano? Answer: Mount Etna on Sicily. Mount Etna has had four major eruptions in the last 309 years and it has just erupted once again – the last time was 1992.

Although lava flows have reached the tourist areas and the airport in Catania has closed and some hotels have been evacuated, the mayor reassured Catania's 330,000 residents that they were in no danger.

“The situation in Catania is completely under control and our city is not threatened in any way,” Mayor Umberto Scapagnini said.

The heaviest lava flow descended towards Piano Provenzana, a popular area for tourists to take mountain walks in summer and for skiing in the winter. The flow pushed over ski-lift pylons, knocked down power lines before surrounding an empty mountain hotel and lodge. No one was injured. See Murray's article on Sicily in the main part of the e-newsletter to see what Sicily has to offer!