Ash Cloud Spreading from Iceland Eruption

A small update for all our readers. This evening, activity at the eruption’s location seems to have increased. While the huge floods had subsided today, the Civil Protection is continuously monitoring the water level of rivers and the situation at outlet glaciers around Eyjafjallajökull.

Anyhow, right now, the most relevant updates concern the situation on air. In the evening, a dark cloud of ashes and vapor started to loom menacingly at the location of the eruption. Due to the very strong winds in this area of the globe, it is expected that the ash cloud could spread to many countries in northern Europe. Today, Norway announced a preventive ban on all flights in the northern area of the country due to the fear of ash clouds coming from the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier.

But U.K. seems to be the first country to be really affected by the ash cloud. Just three hours ago, BBC news reported that flights in northern Scotland were grounded because the cloud from Iceland was already reaching Scotland’s air space. All major U.K. companies warned travelers of possible service disruptions, and U.S. company Continental Airlines announced a stop to some internal U.K. flights. Ash clouds not only limit visibility, but can also cause serious damage to most aircrafts’ engines. Here is an excerpt from EasyJet’s press release:

“A volcano eruption in Iceland is pumping clouds of volcanic ash into the atmosphere. This is being blown towards UK airspace and will cause significant disruption to flights departing from and arriving in the UK on Thursday 15 April 2010. Safety is our number one priority and based on advice from the UK Met Office and Air Traffic Control any flights that pass through affected airspace have been cancelled. All airlines are affected by this unavoidable issue.”

More details can be found on EasyJet’s website.

This said, current situation at Keflavik airport website seems to indicate that early morning flights coming from US and departures from Iceland will have no significant delays.

Here is also a link to a webcam pointing to the eruption. Be warned that due to low light, the screen might be pitch black during night time.

Associated Press also published a video on their YouTube channel, focusing on the emergency evacuations in the eruption area.