Iceland's Volcanic Ash Prompts Flight Cancelations

An eruption by Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano has caused some airlines to cancel flights over parts of Europe, where clouds of volcanic ash could disrupt flights.

Royal Dutch Airlines KLM announced Monday it is canceling 16 flights to Scotland and northern England.

The Associated Press quotes British Airways officials who say that airline is canceling all Tuesday morning flights between London and Scotland because of forecasts of volcanic ash in the Scottish air space.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office says the volcano, which lies beneath the island's largest glacier, has been shooting plumes of smoke at least 11 kilometers into the air since Saturday. Weather officials are uncertain of the path of the ash cloud as it drifts across the continent, but they expect it to touch Scotland, Ireland and Britain by Monday evening or Tuesday.

They say the cloud could travel as far as Scandinavia, western France and Spain by later this week.

But experts say the impact of the eruption will be far less severe than last year's eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano.

The eruption of the Eyjafjallajokul volcano in April 2010 produced an ash cloud that winds blew toward northern Europe, causing airports in the region to ground all planes for several days as a safety precaution. Around 100,000 flights were cancelled, and at least 8 million passengers were stranded worldwide.

Grimsvotn last erupted in 2004.

Iceland's aviation authorities say they have shut down the island's main airport in the capital, Reykjavik, and may have to close the island's other airports. The city has been coated with ash, shutting out the daylight and covering buildings and vehicles.