Volcanic ash is heading for Scotland

Published on Monday 23 May 2011 15:00

THE powerful ash cloud billowing from Iceland's Grimsvötn volcano was last night on track to blanket Scotland this morning, causing air travel chaos.

• An ariel image which shows the ash cloud (reddish colour) billowing from the Grimsvoetn, Iceland's most active volcano. Picture: AFP/Getty

In a repeat of the volcanic ash disruption that hit Scotland - along with most of Europe - almost exactly a year ago, flights were cancelled and travellers warned to expect long delays.

The volcano began to spew out ash on Saturday evening in what is thought to be Iceland's strongest volcanic eruption since the 1950s.

A heavy layer of ash was due to descend over Scotland in the early hours of today due to a strong south-easterly wind, but the rest of Britain was expected to escape the cloud.

Experts said the density of cloud expected to hit Scotland was categorised as "heavy", which means that only airlines that have carried out risk assessments and are confident their planes can cope can fly.

"This is the most powerful eruption in Iceland in over 50 years," said Dr John Stevenson, of Edinburgh University's Geosciences department. "An individual grain of fine ash, falling from 17km, can travel 1,000km before it lands, which would take it safely into Scotland."

Transport minister Keith Brown last night confirmed that there was likely to be air travel disruption in Scotland, following a meeting of the government's emergency transport committee.

Dozens of flights have been cancelled. British Airways said it would not run any services between London and Scotland until at least 2pm today and most flights from Edinburgh Airport are expected to be cancelled. About 300 passengers were stranded at the airport last night and that number was expected to rise today, with only Ryanair saying it would run a full service from the capital today.

Scottish carrier Loganair said it would cancel all flights today except its inter-isles routes in Orkney, while BAA - which operates Scotland's three largest airports in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow - said it would allow individual airlines to make the decision on whether flights would go ahead.

"The Civil Aviation Authority learnt from previous experience and we understand there won't be any blanket bans enforced," a BAA spokesman said. "Rather, the decision whether or not to fly will be made by individual airlines based on CAA guidance in conjunction with their aircraft manufacturers' advice."

Experts said although the eruption was more violent than that of Eyjafjallajkull a year ago, the ash particles were much finer, which made it safer for aircraft to fly. "Grimsvtn is a much more powerful eruption than Eyjafjallajkull, but for a combination of reasons any disruption to UK flights is likely to be considerably less," said Dr Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist at the Open University.

Unlike last year's disruption, which went on for weeks, meteorologists said this year's ash cloud would be likely to disperse more quickly, because of strong winds pushing the cloud away from Scottish airspace. Iceland created a no-fly zone around the volcano and closed its main airport, Keflavik, on Saturday.

"Our forecasts have Scotland fairly and squarely within the concentration zone," said Barry Gromett, spokesman for the Met Office. "But, unlike last year, there is no area of high pressure sitting over the Atlantic, which kept it around for longer."

However, experts warned that Grimsvtn might emit ash for some time. Its last eruption, in 2004, lasted for four days.

"The level of flight disruption will now depend on how long the volcano continues to emit ash to high altitude," added Dr David Rothery, of the Open University.