by Charlotte Hayward

A Kent woman's last hope to fly to her brother's wedding has been thwarted.

Rachel Semadeni, 40, was caught up in the chaos sparked by a volcano in Iceland.

The mother, of Little Chequers, Wye, feared she would miss out on the wedding altogether after UK flights were grounded: she was due to fly out from Heathrow today for the wedding in Lake Garda.

Then she was thrown a lifeline - the chance of a 6am flight to Venice tomorrow.

Now that seems unlikely, as all flights have now been grounded until at least 7am.

Nearly all UK airports, including Gatwick and Heathrow, have been closed - with thousands of flights cancelled and passengers facing major disruption.

Rachel's brother, Adam Kitts, is getting married in Malcesine tomorrow - and has vowed the ceremony will continue.

But it is the second time the big day has been postponed - with an earlier delay caused by the bride's pregnancy.

Audio: Rachel Semadeni on her last-minute re-planning for Italy trip

Rachel and her daughter were driving to Heathrow early this morning when she heard all flights out of the UK were not leaving.

She said: "We are both all packed and ready to go, outfits sorted and everything.

"It's not just me and my daughter that are supposed to fly out, there are 19 of us booked on flights today.

"It means my brother will hardly have any of his family there."

Rachel's other sister has chosen to drive across Europe to get there and Rachel has tried to charter a flight from Lydd airport, but it's already congested and would cost nearly £30,000.

She said: "I can't believe it, you couldn't write it, the wedding has already been postponed once, and it's the last one in the family.

"We were all really looking forward to it."

• Have you been caught up in the chaos of flight delays? Join the debate by commenting below.