A volcanic eruption in Iceland fired ash across northern Europe on Thursday bringing chaos to air travel and closing major airports more than 1,700km 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. Follow our constant updates on the situation:
Sweden airspace to shut by 2000 GMT due to Iceland volcano ash
Sweden’s airspace will shut by 2000 GMT Thursday due to the ash cloud created by a volcano eruption in Iceland, the country’s civil aviation authority said. “We are closing airspace sectors one by one and we are following the ash cloud ... Its coming from the northwest” of Sweden, LFV aviation authority spokesman Carl Felling told AFP. The entire airspace would be shut by 2000 GMT. “We will close Malmoe and the south parts of Sweden at 1400 GMT, and everything except the Baltic Sea and the island of Gotland will close by 1600 GMT,” he said.
Volcano eruption intensifies
A volcanic eruption in Iceland, which has thrown up a 6 km high cloud of ash and disrupted air traffic in northern Europe, has grown more intense, an expert said on Thursday. The eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier – 10 times more powerful than another one nearby last month – showed no sign of abating after more than 24 hours of activity, University of Iceland volcanologist Armannn Hoskuldsson said.
“It’s becoming more intense, but there will be no lava – this is purely an explosive eruption,” he told Reuters. To the east of the volcano, thousands of hectares of land were covered by a thick layer of ash, while a cloud was blotting out the sun in some areas along the southern coast of Iceland, local media reported.
Ash cloud drifts across the Atlantic
The “extensive” clouds of ash and vapour created by the eruptions are now drifting across the Atlantic Ocean, meteorologist Oli Arnason of the Icelandic Met Office says. The plumes at times reach heights of around 9 or 10 kilometres, more or less the cruising altitude of planes on transatlantic flights. It is difficult to estimate the amount of debris and ash spewed out by the volcano, Arnason says. The same volcano erupted last month but this time the eruptions were estimated to be 10 times larger. And because they took place under the glacier, the amount of ash and damp in the air is greatly increased, Arnason explains. The ash particles can damage aircraft, especially their engines.
Flights grounded in Belgium, Germany
European air traffic control authorities have decided to ground planes in Belgium, the Netherlands and western parts of Germany starting Thursday afternoon as a result of ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland, an official said. A spokeswoman for Eurocontrol said that the airspace over north-western parts of continental Europe would begin closing down at 1200 GMT, with all aircraft expected to be on the ground within an hour. The volcanic cloud is expected to reach Belgian airspace at 1400 GMT, the spokeswoman told the German Press Agency DPA. Safety officials say that the ash particles could damage aircraft. The cloud has already caused chaos across the North Sea, forcing the closure of airspace in Britain and Scandinavia.
French airspace closure possible if volcanic ash cloud spreads
France may consider closing its airspace if the ash clouds from an Icelandic volcano eruption spreads, Aeroports de Paris said. “For the moment French airspace is clear and the situation is normal,” Corinne Bokobza, a spokeswoman for the Paris airport operator, said. “That seems unlikely to change in the next few hours but may do so by tomorrow.”
Danish airspace will be shut down for flights today
Denmark will shut down its airspace for all flights at 6 pm local time on Thursday due to volcanic ashes from Iceland, Copenhagen-based newswire Ritzau said, citing Naviair, the country's flight controller.
Flights from Europe to US on indefinite hold
Dozens of flights to the United States were on hold, and cancellations spread across the continent to major hubs at Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva and Paris, where flights heading north were canceled until midnight. Irish authorities also closed their air space for eight hours. In Paris, the company that runs Paris airports said that all flights to Britain, Scandinavia and northern Ireland have been cancelled because of ash clouds from Iceland's erupting volcano. Traffic has been disrupted across Britain due to the ash. Aeroports de Paris said Thursday that flights heading north from Paris have been canceled until midnight.
Flights over northern Scotland grounded
Flights were grounded Thursday as the ash cloud from a volcano eruption in Iceland drifted over the country, said air traffic control service Nats. "We are restricting flights within the area affected by the ash cloud generated by the Icelandic volcanic eruption - at present, this is the northern region of Scotland," said Nats in a statement on its website.
"We took this decision in order to maintain safety."
The British air traffic control service added the ash was "expected to move south."
Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports are closed following advice from UK air traffic control, airport operator BAA Ltd. said in an e-mailed statement today. Other parts of the UK may be affected by the ash cloud later, it said.
Manchester Airport in northern England said it would suspend flights until 1 pm because of the cloud, spokesman Paul Hadfield said.
