Another year, another Icelandic volcano messing up with Europe

Icelandic volcano Grímsvötn erupted on Saturday evening, raising concerns about air flights in Europe. It’s the most powerful volcanic eruption in over 50 years in the country, and threw a huge cloud of ash 20 kilometers into the air over the weekend, a year after ash from the Eyjafjallajökull (we love this name) volcano closed much of the European airspace.

Experts estimate that Grímsvötn produced between 100 and 1,000 times more material per second when it exploded, and the plume it generated was twice as high as Eyjafjallajökull’s. Information from the Icelandic Meteorological Office retrieved on Monday suggests Grímsvötn’s volcanic activity has begun to decrease, with the plume now only 11 kilometers high, but the possibility of airport closures still exist, the authority says. It is expected that winds carrying the ashes will hit the United Kingdom on Tuesday.