The ash from a large volcanic explosion in Iceland has caused the closure of airports in Britain from 12 noon U.K. time (7 a.m. ET) to at least 6pm tonight (U.K. time).
Additionally, there are currently no flights allowed in British airspace, meaning flying to and from Europe today is going to be a nightmare. It is the largest disruption in air travel since September 11, 2001. This from the New York Times:
British civil aviation authorities said on Thursday they would close the country’s airspace at noon to shield aircraft from a plume of ash caused by an erupting volcano in Iceland. The cloud drifted south overnight, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights in a wide arc from Ireland to Norway…The move effectively grounded all flights in Britain from 11:00 a.m. GMT (6:00 a.m. EDT) and affected the estimated 6,000 flights using British airspace everyday, aviation experts said. The impact was likely to be among the most severe in many years. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, transatlantic flights were suspended and there have since been huge disruptions to British air travel caused by terrorism alerts.
Update: Authorities have further delayed European air travel.
Russia Today’s report on the eruption:
And here’s some remarkable footage of the eruption at the aptly named Eyjafjallajokull:
This post originally appeared at Mediaite.
Published: Apr 15, 2010 05:12 pm