Icelandic eruption and the weather

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Thought it might be interesting to start a thread on this.
eruption in iceland

It seems to be a fissure eruption and after some reading this afternoon I think it is unlikely at the moment to be putting up large quantities of ash into the atmosphere, this sort of eruption does not seem to be the explosive sort. If it starts to, then we could see some particularly spectacular sunsets.

Worries are though that it might trigger Katla volcano which could be potentially pretty devestating, not only to Iceland but also could affect weather on a global scale. Large eruptions have historically caused global cooling and influenced weather patterns.

hopefully fears end up being unfounded

ashcast

volcano still being quieter

Just noticed the wording on the bottom of the forecast "Eruption has virtually ceased"]]

That's good news, hopefully in another couple of days the ash will have dispersed.

On the radio this lunchtime they said that the wind ought to be 'shifting round' later this week... if the ash is still up there, where will get it instead, do you think?

From the ashcast the forecasted situation looks very promising.

Over on pprune, someone has given some info unofficially:

"The Met Office has advised DfT that the eruption stopped last night.
UK airspace will be progressively reopened tomorrow.
Scottish airspace will open at 0600
Midlands at 1200
Southern UK at 1800
Northern France and German airspace are likely to remain closed tomorrow.
NATS and CAA are preparing initial operating principles for the start up period."

I should imagine it will be complicated to get things going again, so it's just as well that the Navy are sending ships to pick up stranded people from Spain.

Meanwhile, this flight has been successful, despite earlier reports that it had disappeared into the volcanic cloud.

Of course it wasn't flying on instruments or jet propelled.

OYBK - thank you for that link. It depends on the kind of volcano then and even then no one is sure.

I thought it might be something ike lightning in tornados but Googling that it also seems not all tornados produce lightning and they dont really seem certain about that either.

There was me thinking I was asking a silly question. It is spectacular all the same.

Grimma - any generated ash should move more north. Phew about that flight

ugly. Thats interesting. I wonder where they got that from. Eurocontrol meeting about to start. results from that will be interesting.

met office statement at 11:53 "Eruptions from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano are weakening but, for the time being, weather patterns continue to blow volcanic ash towards the UK."

So eruption not actually quite stopped.

fairly useful blog to describe eruption.

That blog is interesting - although the change from feet to kilometres confuses me somewhat.

I've tried looking again at the volcano webcams, but they keep timing out.

Looking again at the ashcast metoffice.com/aviation/vaac/data/VAG_1271676889.png am I right in assuming that the maximum height of the ash over the Atlantic is at 20,000 feet? If so,I wonder if it's possible to safely fly over that height and land in Scotland/Northwest England?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8630455.stm

good news: northern flights to resume tomorrow.
not so good: volcano activity increasing again, so the situation is still volatile.

Well at least the swan made it

Mum and sis will not be flying tomorrow and have to go and change the holiday again, Thomas Cook are being pains in the arse.

As long as they do not say it is a cancellation they do not have to refund it, but the holiday is getting more and more expensive

don't panic if you hear any rumours about Hekla erupting - apparently a webcam labelled Hekla was pointing the wrong way!

Looks like this volcano might be changing its phase to the magma part of the eruption cycle. Good if its true.

But it is pumping out more ash again. stupid volcano.

Such an irony, Iceland threatened the UK banking system when its banks collapsed. Now just one of its volcanos errupted and shut down the whole of Europe.

From uk.sci.weather, one contributor has posted:

"Just heard on the radio a widespread fall of ash, accompanied by light levels low enough to turn street lights on, in the area north of Portsmouth. No sign of anything in Southampton, just clear and hazy."

I guess if there are localised weather conditions that could cause a limited effect but I can't see anything specific on the MetOffice radar.

From the BBC website:

"The Icelandic Coastguard has said the volcano eruption is entering a new phase.

A flight it carried out earlier found lava pouring from the top of the volcano, which usually indicates a decrease in the amount of ash produced."

has anyone noticed that the sky is a very odd colour tonight? i have just looked out, and it looks very strange, kind of like it might snow but its too warm, and the sun was a funny colour earlier too

I thought thay made us suffer enough with Enya!!!!

to be aware, some doubt over tomorrow.
ever so sorry chaps, hope this doesn't cause fresh problems

Cherrymonster - I know what you mean. I've just looked out and the moon is an orange colour. I was just about to post if anyone thinks it is due to all the ash! Very strange...but beautiful colour.

I noticed that last night and convinced it was due to ash. moon was pretty high at the time,
ash cast

looks like scotland has some poportunity. perhaps northern england for a bit.

magma seen in crater which I understand to be a good sign for the ash to become less prevalent.

poportunity!!! lol! opportunity.