by Rose Conrad

Created on: April 17, 2010   Last Updated: April 18, 2010

Yesterday here in the South of England, the sky turned milky white, then yellow - it was a singularly strange and somewhat unearthly experience. Looking around my garden, the daffodils still danced in the April breeze, and the trees were all in blossom but above us, the normally blue sky was covered with a luminescent milky haze.

The reason for this strange phenomena of course is the recent volcano in Iceland. Eyjafiallajokull has erupted for the first time since 1821, and the resulting cloud of ash and molten lava has cast a shadow all over Northern Europe, disrupting air travel from all European airports, and casting this strange shadow over the land.

Most air travellers here feel irritation and frustration rather than anger. It seems almost unbelievable that modern technology cannot counteract this act of nature. But the fact is, that the fall-out from this volcano could prove fatal, as the fine powder is extremely abrasive and if sucked into the engines of any aircraft, can cause immediate failure.

Almost 30 years ago in 1982, vulcanic ash from Mount Galunggung in Indonesia, caused all four engines of a passenger aircraft to shut down, and only the skill of the pilot averted certain disaster.

As the cloud moves southwards, there are hopes that airports in Scotland and the North of England will re-open imminently, though the main airports around London are still gridlocked. There are also no flights out of Belgium, The Netherlands, Latvia, and Sweden, and a very restricted service from German and French airports.

With European School Easter holidays ending yesterday, and all schools re-opening on Monday 19th, this is obviously creating huge disruption. Many workers take annual leave at this time to take their children away, and now thousands are stranded away from home with no hope of returning to school or work on Monday.

All Eurostar services returning to the UK are already fully-booked, and ferries are the same. The flight cancellations should be covered by insurance, but the cost of alternative travel arrangements and extended accommodation costs probably won't be, as it could well fall under the nebulous "Act of God" clause in the policy.

At the moment, the volcano is still erupting, albeit on a far smaller scale, and there are fears that there could still be another large eruption. There are also concerns that if this happens, more devastation could occur, as  Eyjafiallajokull lies under a glacier, and risng floodwaters have already caused hundreds of people to flee their homes in the area, and this situation could get worse.

Meanwhile, if you are one of the unfortunate travellers who have a flight booked within the next 48 hours, the advice is to listen to the news, check the airport websites and special customer service lines, and try and be as patient as possible. Good luck.

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