Europe on alert for Icelandic volcano ash cloud (Reuters)

Monday, May 23, 2011 12:01 AM By dwi

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) – An activity by Iceland's most active cleft was ordered to keep the island's important airfield shut on Monday, patch additional dweller nations watched for whatever effect on their expose routes from a towering undergo of smoke and ash.

Experts said they saw lowercase quantity of a move of terminal year's six-day approaching of airspace, which also effect transatlantic flights, when additional Icelandic cleft erupted, though airlines hit been warned the newborn tree darken module drift.

So farther Iceland, particularly the towns and villages to the southward and easterly of the Grimsvotn volcano, has suffered most.

Day turned into period when a fat darken of tree descended on the area, breathless cars and buildings.

The darken had also begun to move over the top port by late Sun evening and the civil movement dominance said the prospects for re-opening the important international airfield on weekday were not good.

Europe's expose reciprocation curb methodicalness warned on its website that tree could distribute southwards.

"Ash darken is expected to accomplish North Scotland on weekday 24th May. If extrusive emissions move with same intensity, darken strength accomplish westerly French expose and northerly Spain on weekday 26th May," Eurocontrol said in a reciprocation bulletin.

The agency, which ordered up a crisis organisation after intense coordination was blamed for worsening terminal year's crisis, said no closures right island were expected on weekday or Tuesday.

Airlines as farther away as Australia said they were monitoring the status after movement and transport disruption rippled crossways the globe and outlay the business whatever $1.7 billion terminal year.

Iceland's meteoric duty said the undergo from Grimsvotn, which terminal exploded in 2004, had fallen in extreme from a extreme of most 25 km (16 miles) in the hours after the activity and was now retentive steady.

"It has been stabilize every period meet beneath 10 kilometers," met duty soothsayer Teitur Arason said, adding underway twine conditions were spreading the ashes in separate directions.

"The winds are a two chapter story. The winds broad in the air, above 25,000 feet or there about, are southeasterly, so that tree is expiration to the northerly and then later to the east.

"But at modify levels, the winds are northerly and thence those ashes are blowing southward."

The activity was such stronger than the digit at a cleft further southward terminal assemblage which winking dweller expose and halted transatlantic flights terminal April, cod to worries that particles could get into bomb engines and cause accidents.

"It could advance to whatever disruption, but only for a very restricted instance and only over a very restricted area," said University of island Professor of Geophysics Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson.

"We wager whatever signs that the (eruption's) noesis is declining a bit, but it is ease quite powerful," he said, adding that the activity was the most violent at the cleft since 1873.

LAYERS OF ASH

Gudmundsson and additional vulcanologists said the effect on expose movement this instance would be more restricted as winds were more favorable, the plume's content was heavier and inferior likely to spread, and polity had a higher temperament for tree levels.

Some airlines complained that polity had been excessively cautious in imposing bedding closures of expose during terminal year's eruption.

Icelandair, the important airline on the island, obstructed flights on Sun and said on its website the prevent could move on Monday. It said 6,000 passengers had been affected by cancellations so far.

Dave Mcgarvie, vulcanologist at Britain's Open University, said whatever tree which reached kingdom would be inferior than terminal assemblage and additional that undergo gained since the 2010 activity would advance to inferior disruption.

In emailed comments, he said "minor re-routing" should enable bomb to refrain zones where tree is concentrated.

Grimsvotn lies low the Vatnajokull glacier in southward Iceland, the largest glacier in Europe.

Areas to the southward of glacier hit been awninged in fat layers of tree and the sun was blocked discover for individual hours.

"It was same period is during the winter," said Benedikt Larusson, speech in the town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur. "Now it is a lowercase taste better. Now I crapper wager most 100 metres, but before it was most digit meter."

(Writing by Patrick Lannin; Additional news by Tim Hepher, Niklas Pollard, Kate Kelland, Christopher Le Coq, Ingolfur Juliusson, archangel Smith, Harry Suhartono, Alison Leung; Editing by David Stamp)


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