Earth Sciences Iceland threatens aviation yet again

Second Summer

Second Summer

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Reaction score
8,608
Location
Oxfordshire, UK
Lifestyle
  1. Vegan
The risk of an eruption at Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano has increased, with signs of "ongoing magma movement", Iceland's meteorological office says.

The risk level to the aviation industry has been raised to orange, the second-highest level, the met office said.

[...]

The Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010, producing an ash cloud that severely disrupted European airspace.
Click to expand...
More:
BBC News - Iceland raises Bardarbunga volcano alert to orange

(During the 2010 eruption a new word was coined in Norway: "askefast" - it means being stuck somewhere due to volcano ash. A friend of mine got stuck in Paris, but got together with other askefaste Norwegians and hired a taxi(!) to take them to Oslo.)
 
Nice enough for the Icelanders, but not of much benefit to anyone else!

Yesterday, I read they had upgraded the code to RED! I think there was a small eruption of magma, but it was underneath a glacier or something, so not much to see yet. There is now a no-fly-zone in the area. This of course comes just the day before I'm supposed to be flying across the Atlantic!
 
Dang Icelandicans, need to control their volcanoes like we in the U.S. do!
th


Last time my cousin (works for Delta) lucked out and just made it back to the states from Paris before the flights shut down.
 
Last edited:
Indian Summer said:
Nice enough for the Icelanders, but not of much benefit to anyone else!

Yesterday, I read they had upgraded the code to RED! I think there was a small eruption of magma, but it was underneath a glacier or something, so not much to see yet. There is now a no-fly-zone in the area. This of course comes just the day before I'm supposed to be flying across the Atlantic!
Click to expand...

I hope they have a safe route for you! Enjoy your trip! [emoji574] [emoji631] [emoji289]
 
I remember in 2010 the travel chaos that we had in Europe due to the ash cloud. I just about made my UK bound flight from Marseilles as the airport shut down a few hours after my departure. The following day, we had to sit on the LA bound flight for a whole 2 hours before we could take off. The pilot said that he was not let us disembark because it would be too much hassle to reboard over 300 pax.
The plane then had to do a huge detour east of Iceland which made the usual 11 hour flight over 14 hours.

My cousin was stuck on the island of Majorca for a whole week and couldn't get back to London. He ended up working from his Spanish home via the internet and phone, which wasn't too bad considering.
 
Icaland is at it again!
The largest volcanic eruption in over two centuries is underway in Iceland and its spewing dangerous amounts of carbon and sulfur dioxides into the atmosphere.

Lava from the Holuhraun volcano has been bubbling up from the ground since August and has spread out over an area larger than Manhattan. Not since the Laki eruption in 1783, which killed nearly a quarter of the Icelandic population, has Iceland seen such a significant volcanic event.
Click to expand...
More: A Volcano in Iceland Is Spewing Toxic Gas Into the Atmosphere | VICE News (February 3, 2015.)

Picture here, as well as link to web cam pictures (which were pretty tame, I have to say!)
Better View of Eruption through New Webcam | Iceland Review
 
Top Bottom
Back