Volcano Update 4 : No prolonged clearance until the weekend
It's another very frustrating day for airlines and passengers alike. As suggested on yesterday evening's update, the clearance across parts of the UK's airspace is proving to be very short lived, with more ash now pushing south-eastwards from Iceland across the UK.
The Met Office has confirmed by observation the extent of atmospheric ash, with balloon observations showing a 600 metre deep ash cloud at an altitude of 4km across parts of the UK. Despite several airlines reporting no problems during test flights, NATO F-16 fighter jets have reported engine damage when flying through the volcanic ash.
The latest projections, shown below, issued by the Met Office, show virtually all of the UK except the Northeast of Scotland contaminated by ash at 7am Wednesday morning.
Upper winds are forecast to continue to blow from the Northwest for the rest of this week, indicating further plumes of volcanic ash heading towards the UK from time to time. Although further clearances are possible, the only significant prolonged clearance across UK airspace will not be until the weekend, when the wind switches to a West or Southwest direction.
It's likely to be a very frustrating week for all involved.
Hello, I’m Paul Hudson, weather presenter and climate correspondent for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Look North in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. I've been interested in the weather and climate for as long as I can remember, and worked as a forecaster with the Met Office for more than ten years locally and at the international unit before joining the Ö÷²¥´óÐã in October 2007. Here I divide my time between forecasting and reporting on stories about climate change and its implications for people's everyday lives.
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