Photo Gallery Volcanic Ash Cloud Disrupts Europe Air Traffic
The Icelandic volcano Grímsvötn in southeast Iceland erupted on Saturday and has been spewing ash ever since. The ash cloud led to the cancellation of 250 flights to and from Scotland and northern Ireland on Tuesday. Meteorologists say it will reach the German coast by Tuesday evening.
This satellite image provided by NASA shows the plume of dense ash from Grímsvötn, Iceland's most active volcano. Its eruption has raised fears of a repeat of the massive travel chaos caused a year ago by the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on Iceland, which led to the cancellation of thousands of flights as large parts of European airspace were closed for almost a month.
Passengers passing the time at Edinburgh airport in Scotland on Tuesday. Thousands of people have been stranded at Scottish airports.
The British National Air Traffic Service (NATS), which controls traffic across Britain's airspace, said early on Tuesday that the airports of Glasgow and Edinburgh had been affected on Monday night, and that disruptions were also expected at Aberdeen and Inverness airports. Outside Scotland, British air traffic has been unaffected by the cloud so far, NATS said.
Icelandic emergency personnel working at a temporally headquarters at the Geirland farm near Kirkjubaejarklaustu on Monday. The outburst is the volcano's most powerful since 1873. It was accompanied by a number of small earthquakes.
A rescue team in operation near Kirkjubaearklaustur in Iceland on Monday. The region is sparsely populated. The ash was so thick that it shut out daylight and covered buildings and vehicles.
A major road had to be closed due to the ash.
The ash was blown into the buildings of several farms in the area. People were urged to stay indoors if possible and to close doors and windows.
A road near the village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur on Tuesday, close to the volcano. The most high-profile victim of the ash cloud so far has been US President Barack Obama, who had to cut short his visit to Ireland and fly to London 10 hours earlier earlier than planned.
A cloud of ash decended on the settlement of Vik near the volcano on Monday. EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said passengers in Europe faced a "week of challenges" but added that improved crisis management procedures introduced in response to last year's eruption meant that large-scale closures of European airspace were unlikely.
Horses near the volcano stomping through ash-covered fields. Southern parts of Scandinavia, Denmark and northern parts of Germany could soon be covered by the cloud, said the deputy head of European air traffic authority Eurocontrol, Brian Flynn, at a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday.
