Iceland volcanic ash cloud expected to reach UK

ASH could begin to drift across the UK after a volcanic eruption in Iceland sent a plume of smoke 12 miles into the air, forecasters said.

The Grimsvotn volcano has had its largest eruption in 100 years, a year after the Eyjafjallajokull eruption sent clouds of ash across Europe, closing airspace and grounding flights.

But scientists have said the latest Icelandic eruption is very unlikely to have the same result.

A spokesman for the Met Office, which runs Europe's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, said: "This is a very different situation to last April. The weather is much more changeable and there's a lot more uncertainty."

The ash cloud is expected to reach parts of the UK by the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Met Office has said.

Icelandic air traffic control created a no-fly zone around the volcano, closed Keflavik airport, the country's main hub, and cancelled all domestic flights.

But the eruption has not affected UK airspace.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said: "We're monitoring the situation closely and working with our colleagues at NATS (National Air Traffic Services) and the Met Office."

A NATS spokeswoman said: "We are not speculating at all at this stage, we are just watching the situation closely. It's changing all the time."

Despite the strength of the eruption, University of Iceland geophysicist Pall Einarsson said: "It is not likely to be anything on the scale that was produced last year when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted.

"That was an unusual volcano, an unusual ash size distribution and unusual weather pattern, which all conspired together to make life difficult in Europe."

The particles of ash from the eruption are said to be larger than last year, therefore falling to the ground more quickly.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "We are monitoring the activity in Iceland closely, together with the Met Office and NATS.

"We will be reviewing the situation regularly in case of any threat to European airspace."

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