Iceland volcano: How Twitter and Facebook are helping stranded travellers

What's amazing about all this, is how people are helping themselves and each other without government help. There's a lesson in that.

Facebook and Twitter, in particular, have been a hive of activity, providing up to the minute news updates, as well as a way for people to easily pool their resources with other stranded travellers.

The #getmehome hashtag contains thousands of tweets from people organising car pools, offering rooms for the night, or passing on the latest updates about ferry and Eurostar availability, as does #stranded. The #putmeup hashtag is making it easier for people to find accommodation, or to open up their houses to those who are running out of money and ideas in their efforts to return home