jQuery "loading" modal onclick of href

Hi experts,

I have a HTML/Javascript/CSS mobile webapp that has a link (a href) to an external website. I would like to have a nice ajax-style "loading" modal screen popup when the user clicks the button which remains in place until the external website is loaded. If the website is unavailable, the modal screen should display a friendly error. This is so that if the user's phone connection is slow or unavailable, they are notified.

Any ideas where I could get hold of some sample code for this in jQuery/Javascript?

Thanks

Jon