As flights are slowly beginning to pick up and the English skies are now once again decorated with the vapour trails of aeroplanes, we look at some of the more creative methods that academics used in order to get back to class.

The volcanic eruption in Iceland not only disrupted keen holiday-makers plans but has also seriously impacted on the education world with scholars and students alike, unable to return back to school. Either stuck at home or abroad they had to think up a more imaginative route.

Kevin Fong, physiology lecturer at University College London and Times Higher Education columnist, was stranded in Toulouse after attending a meeting at the European Space Agency. After his original plan to build a rocket was, surprisingly, declined by the French he was forced to re-think his journey. Opting to hitch a ride with a colleague to Brussels then catching the Eurostar home he described his return journey as being like “an episode of Top Gear but without the fun!”

Kevin Fong was not alone in his creative approach to travelling; stranded in Atlanta, Shawn Lawson acting Head of the School of Computer Science at the University of Lincoln was directed home via Boston then Reykjavik, Iceland. The colleagues choosing to remain in Atlanta may have to wait up to a week before they can return home.

Meanwhile students have also suffered the repercussions of the flight ban – many of whom were stuck abroad trying to head back to the UK. Those unfortunate not to be stuck on holiday were turning up to classes that had no lecturers. A student at Leeds Metropolitan University, Carley Birkin posted her angst on her Twitter page “My dissertation tutor is stranded abroad two weeks before our deadline, not happy.”

Have you been a victim of the flight cancellations and delays caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland? Send your stories to editorial@i-studentadvisor.com