A year on from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, when air space was closed around Europe, millions of travellers were stranded and the term “ash cloud” entered regular speech, a new volcanic eruption has already closed Icelandic airspace and is threatening to reach the UK by tomorrow (Tuesday, 24 May).
The Grimsvotn volcano is Iceland’s most active volcano and this is its first eruption since 2004. It started erupting on Sunday and its ash has already reached Reykjavik, 400km (250 miles) to the west, and closed Keflavik Airport.
The progress of the ash cloud depends on wind patterns and Met Office experts in the UK say that changeable conditions may sweep the ash away from the country. Should it blow towards the UK, the Met Office says that this will make flight disruption more of a possibility, but it does not mean that airspace will be closed.
Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland, quoted by the Daily Mail, doesn’t see this ash cloud as much as a risk as last year’s. “It is not likely to be anything on the scale that was produced last year when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted,” he told the newspaper.
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson told The Telegraph: “It’s early days and we’re keeping an eye on the situation but at the moment the weather patterns are looking pretty favourable.
“It’s the kind of situation that can change very quickly but we’d be very unlucky to be affected again as the winds normally would take this kind of problem away from us.
“The only problem passengers are likely to have is if you’re going to Iceland.”
Icelandair and Iceland Express both offer direct flights to Iceland from the UK. Icelandair has cancelled its flights from Manchester/Glasgow (FI 436) and London (FI450) today and is advising passengers to contact their travel agents or the airline directly (+354 5050100).
Iceland Express, which flies from London Gatwick to Keflavik, has also cancelled flights today. The 5W502 flight is listed as “delayed”.
(Image: NASA Goddard Photo and Video)
