A final update before bed time. Life in Reykjavík goes on as usual. Most people we met downtown today were not even remotely scared by the eruption or the ash cloud. Whoever mentioned dust masks became immediately object of ridicule and scorn. So, really, people in the city are not really worried for the time being.
Those seriously affected by the eruption are the hundreds of people evacuated over the past two days, including the farmers who had their farms closer to the eruption. The disruption of air traffic has reached levels that, according to commentators on TV, radio, Internet, and in our guesthouse, was unseen since a small event known as World War II, when (most) people were forced to enjoy their piña colada in their living rooms instead than by the sea.
And seriously, news in the evening and in the night would make one think that major disruptions to air traffic might last days, if not weeks. After the UK, which was first reached by the ash cloud in the night (we were among the first three-four sources reporting this during the night on the web, and that is why we had the enormous traffic increase today), the cloud started reaching other northern countries. Looking at the very clear map from the European space agency (which you can find here), one can understand exactly why northern countries felt the effects of the cloud, whereas noting noticeable happened in Reykjavík. Moved by the winds, the high-altitude ash plume started spreading in the evening of April 14, 2010, moving in a south-southeast direction. It reached Scotland at 3:oo AM (UTC), and then started spreading east and west, reaching Norway early in morning and then central and southern U.K., leading to the cancellation of all flights at Heathrow, the second busiest passenger airport in the world. The cloud then touched other countries. In order, it reached Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, and then Germany and Poland in the west, and northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands in the east. Throughout the day, all these countries announced closure of air traffic in the affected areas of their skies. French authorities announced in the afternoon that all northern airports, including Paris airports, had to be closed. This meant that, after Heathrow in the morning, another of the busiest airports in the world, Charles de Gaulle airport, had been shut down. Germany followed with similar announcements about its Berlin and Hamburg airports, where traffic came to a complete halt at 8:00 GMT. Of course, the rest of the world, which has flights leading to these countries, was also affected by this mess. As I write, 50% of flights between U.S. and Europe have been halted. Traffic in all these countries will not resume at least until Friday morning, but according to experts, this is if you want to be extremely optimistic.
It is already known that the current ash cloud should reach countries in Eastern Europe and Russia by Friday. Einar Kjartansson, a geophysicist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told the Associated Press that “It is likely that the production of ash will continue at a comparable level for some days or weeks. But where it disrupts travel, that depends on the weather”. Which is like saying, if winds are not strong enough or if they are blowing in your direction, you can forget about your next holiday.