Iceland Volcano Brings Chaos
About 800 people have been forced to evacuate their homes around the Eyjafjallajokull volcano because the flooding cut roads and risked bringing down a bridge.
A huge cloud of ash from the second major eruption in Iceland in less than a month blew eastwards, closing major airports more than 1000 miles (1700km) away in London, where all flights were halted.
Nearly every airport in Norway, Denmark and across northern Sweden was also closed, authorities announced. There was also disruption in Finland.
More than 250 flights out of London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports were cancelled, including transatlantic services. Hundreds of other mainly domestic flights were also hit at airports across Britain.
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British airport operator BAA said: “Following advice from the Met Office, the National Air Traffic Service has introduced restrictions to UK airspace this morning as a result of volcanic ash drifting across the United Kingdom from Iceland”.
The ash was about eight-10km in the air and could not been seen from the ground. But experts said it was a danger to jet engines and restricted visibility.
Icelandic airports remained open as wind was blowing ash away from the island.
“Flights to and from Iceland are still OK. The wind is blowing the ash to the east,” said Hjordis Gudmundsdottir of the Icelandic Airport Authority.
“It’s amazing really,” she said.
“Things here should be fine for the next 12 hours at least, and we think probably all day, judging from the weather forecast.”
The volcano on the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland erupted just after midnight on Wednesday. Smoke coming out of the top crater stacked more than 6km into the sky, meteorologists said.
Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that a 500m fissure had appeared at the top of the crater on Wednesday.
Lava melted the glacier, causing major flooding which forced the evacuation of between 700 and 800 people. Evacuees were being directed to Red Cross centres.
“We have two heavy floods coming out from the melting of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier,” said police spokesman Roegnvaldur Olafsson.
The eruption in a remote area about 125km east of Reykjavik was bigger than the blast at the nearby Fimmvorduhals volcano last month.
“It is very variable how long these eruptions last. Anywhere from a few days to over a year,” said Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics and civil protection adviser in Iceland.
“Judging from the intensity of this one, it could last a long time,” he added. LINK
