How could the Iceland volcanic eruption affect Christmas travel?
WATCH: Volcano erupts in Iceland weeks after thousands evacuated from town
A volcano erupted late on Monday in southwest Iceland, spewing lava and smoke across a wide area after weeks of intense earthquakes.
Images and livestreams of the eruption showed molten rock spewing spectacularly from fissures in the ground, their bright-yellow and orange colours set in sharp contrast against the dark night sky. Fearing a significant eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, authorities last month evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindavik and closed the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.
In 2010, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted, causing an ash cloud which grounded European air traffic but the latest activity is not expected to cause the same disruption. Scientists have said a new eruption would likely produce lava but not an ash cloud.
"Warning: Eruption has started north of Grindavik by Hagafell," the country's Meteorological Office said on its website, noting that the eruption began only a few kilometres from Grindavik and cracks in the ground stretched toward the village located about 40 km (25 miles) south-west of Iceland's capital city Reykjavik.”
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Is the eruption disrupting flights?
Reykjavik's nearby Keflavik International Airport remained open, albeit with numerous delays listed for both arrivals and departures.
National airline Icelandair told passengers: “The eruption does have a very minimal affect the operations of Icelandair or Keflavik airport. Our flight schedule remains unchanged.
“No flights have been delayed or canceled due to the eruption. The safety of our passengers and staff is always our number one priority and at the heart of every decision we make. We’re monitoring the situation closely and will inform our passengers of any new developments.”
However, some departure flights on Tuesday morning from new Icelandic airline Play have been delayed by up to five hours. A series of strikes by air-traffic controllers has complicated the situation. Staff have been walking out intermittently over a pay dispute and more industrial action is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Is it safe to travel to Iceland?
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the “prime location” of the eruption was an area north of Grindavik, near the Hagafell mountain. Local police said they had raised their alert level as a result and the country's civil defence warned the public not to approach the area while emergency personnel assessed the situation.
The UK government has issued advice saying earthquakes and indications of volcanic activity have increased above normal levels on the Reykjanes peninsula, southwest of Reykjavik. It said you should monitor local media for updates and follow the authorities advice on travel to the area.
Could it affect the UK?
Flights from UK are currently on schedule and Christmas getaways will not be affected by a potential volcanic eruption in Iceland, according to armed forces minister James Heappey. He offered assurances in the House of Commons after concerns were raised in defence questions.
Conservative MP James Gray asked about the possible impact “threatened volcanic activity” could have on maritime patrol aircraft which make use of the Keflavik Air Base in Iceland.
Mr Heappey replied: “To the relief of people hoping for a Christmas getaway everywhere, I am told that this particular volcanic ash is not the same as the last time and thus does not pose such a threat to aviation, but we are, of course, monitoring carefully and have contingencies.”
In 2010, a Icelandic volcano stopped air traffic for 8 days. Could that happen this time?
In 2010, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted, which caused a massive ash cloud to spread across Europe. This ash cloud was carried by the wind and caused air-travel disruptions in many countries, with several airlines grounding their flights for up to eight days.
The eruption led to the cancellation of around 100,000 flights, affecting millions of passengers globally, and causing an estimated loss of billions of pounds for the airline industry. Many countries also closed their airspace as a precautionary measure, leading to severe economic losses.
However, scientists have said a new eruption would likely produce lava but not an ash cloud, so this is unlikely to cause the same level of disruption.
Located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates move in opposite directions. But eruptions are still hard to predict.
