Increasing likelihood of volcanic eruption in Iceland could affect air travel across Europe

AccuWeather

After thousands of earthquakes across Iceland, experts say there's a significant chance of an eruption coming soon. But effects of an eruption could stretch far beyond Iceland itself.

Transcript

00:00 Right now we are following the situation in Iceland where a state of emergency has been

00:04 declared after thousands of earthquakes have shaken the country in recent weeks.

00:08 Authorities say there's a significant likelihood of a volcanic eruption in the coming days.

00:12 And AccuWeather chief meteorologist John Porter says an explosion could severely impact air

00:17 travel.

00:18 Well, volcanoes are often a concern to air travel because volcanoes release ash that

00:24 can be lofted well into the atmosphere and produce these clouds of volcanic ash that

00:30 if ingested in sufficient quantities into jet engines of an airplane can cause the jet

00:36 engine to fail.

00:38 That's why airlines are very careful as it relates to where clouds of volcanic ash are

00:44 occurring and making sure that planes do not go into those areas.

00:49 An intense earthquake swarms in recent days have crumbled roads and forced evacuations

00:53 in the town of Grindavik.

00:56 Iceland's civil protection agency is advising people to remain calm and says that there

01:00 is currently no threat of imminent danger.

01:02 So if you have international flight plans coming up into the holiday season, to Europe

01:08 especially, this could have impacts in your direction and into Asia as well, at least

01:13 if you're taking the Atlantic route.

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