Volcanic Ash cuts off portions of Europe from rest of the world

[ViruRulez]

Flights across much of Europe will be severely disrupted well into Saturday because of drifting ash ejected from a volcano in Iceland, officials said. Much of the airspace across northern and western Europe has been closed, and air control officials said some 17,000 flights would be cancelled on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of passengers in Europe and around the world have been affected. Scientists say the volcano is still erupting but producing less ash.

Check the full article with videos and photos in the following link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8623534.stm kS-T_jnRycM

[ViruRulez]

Volcanic ash brings Manmohan to Africa

What the babus in Government and Air India wouldn’t do, the weather gods have done. For the past few years, Indian prime ministers have made it a habit of stopping in Europe to refuel and service their aircraft on long distance flights to and from the Americas, with Frankfurt or Geneva the preferred options. This, despite the fact that a stopover in Africa could cut travel time and overall costs, not to speak of allowing the possibility of a quick bilateral visit to a continent that is of growing strategic importance to India. On his current visit, too, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s advisers had him halting in Frankfurt en route to Washington and then again on the way back from the Brazilian capital. But with the airspace in western Europe compromised by the drift of volcanic ash from Iceland, Air India has been forced to reroute AI-1’s flight back home via Johannesburg in South Africa. The stop will be brief, barely two hours, just long enough to refuel the jumbo jet. But it would be the first time the Prime Minister’s special flight touches down in the continent while on an onward western tour since Narasimha Rao’s famous visit to Ougadougou, Burkina Faso in November 1995. Last year, when this European obsession was pointed out to the Prime Minister’s advisers, an attempt was made to build in a quick bilateral visit to Angola either to or from Pittsburgh, where Dr. Singh attended the G-20 summit. But with the chosen date falling over a weekend in Luanda, the stopover never happened. The Prime Minister’s conservative travel schedule is in marked contrast to that of Chinese leaders, who normally build in visits to several countries once a principal event is pencilled into the calendar. Thus, President Hu Jintao was supposed to fly on to both Venezuela and Chile for bilateral talks following his attendance of the BRIC summit here before he was forced to cut short his visit because of the Qinghai earthquake. In recent years, the president and prime minister of China have visited nearly two dozen African nations between them. Dr. Singh, in his six years at the helm, has visited only South Africa and Egypt, both essentially for multilateral events, as well as Nigeria in 2007, the first proper bilateral visit to Africa’s most populous country since 1962.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article398692.ece?homepage=true

[Guest Gunner]

:aha::aha::aha::aha::aha:

[Roshanrocks]

holiday holiday for people in these countries

[vvvslaxman]

Is there a chance that happens between India and Pakistan . Seperating Pakistan 1000 miles away from India?

[CricketGirl]

Is there a chance that happens between India and Pakistan . Seperating Pakistan 1000 miles away from India?

wishful thinking!

[Sachinism]

Ronnie Irani said, all flights cancelled, too much dust in the air as Arsenal FC have been cleaning out their trophy cabinet :phehehe:

[Sachinism]

Updated information received from the Met Office on weather patterns in the UK now indicates that a small fraction of the Icelandic volcanic plume is likely to reach ground level over the UK tonight and tomorrow morning, and low levels of sulphur dioxide are expected in the plume Based on this, the Health Protection Agency in conjunction with Health Protection Scotland and the Met Office has provided updated information for the public. It is important to stress that the concentration of particles which may reach ground level is likely to be low and should not cause serious harm. If people are outside this evening and notice symptoms such as itchy or irritated eyes, runny nose, sore throat or dry cough, or if they notice a dusty haze in the air or can smell sulphur, rotten eggs, or a strong acidic smell, they may wish to limit their activities outdoors or return indoors. Those with existing respiratory conditions such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma may notice these effects more than others and should ensure they have any inhalers or other medications with them. Any such health effects are likely to be short term. The Health Protection Agency, Health Protection Scotland and the Met Office will continue to monitor the situation and issue any further advice or updates as necessary as the weather changes. Low concentrations of volcanic dust, which may contain low levels of sulphur dioxide, are also expected to ground with the plume, although this is not expected to be a significant threat to public health. Any enquiries on the likely duration of the ash plume over the UK should be addressed to the Met Office.

:nervous:

[Maha_Apa]

Is there a chance that happens between India and Pakistan . Seperating Pakistan 1000 miles away from India?

India will still find a way some how to blame ISI & Pakistan for every fire cracker explosion in their land. :cantstop:

[Clarke]

Is there a chance that happens between India and Pakistan . Seperating Pakistan 1000 miles away from India?

dont worry .. evolution will take its course and owing to struggle for existence, survival of the fittest shall occur while the weaker species shall be extinct :winky:

[Sachinism]

India will still find a way some how to blame ISI & Pakistan for every fire cracker explosion in their land. :cantstop:

Yeh the dumb focker probably left something that looks like this at the bomb scene Its amazing how a Paki can accuse India of blaming Pakistan for everything, when its them that do it without any evidence. Toss pots still think India are behind all these bombings in the last few years. Open your mind!

[Gunner_Mania]

It has been 6 days now and there is still no end in sight to this crisis. British airspace was supposed to open up today, but the latest news is the plans have been now postponed. Scottish airspace opened this morning, but the rest - Machester, Midlands, South - including Heathrow and other City airports have all not re opened.

[flamy]

ash hole: the small opening in the volcanic ash clouds that allow airliners to fly through without any chance of danger. We were stranded at Heathrow Airport for hours until the airline found some ash hole to fly through.

[Riley's Girl]

ash hole: the small opening in the volcanic ash clouds that allow airliners to fly through without any chance of danger. We were stranded at Heathrow Airport for hours until the airline found some ash hole to fly through.

:hysterical::hysterical:

[ViruRulez]

ash hole: the small opening in the volcanic ash clouds that allow airliners to fly through without any chance of danger. We were stranded at Heathrow Airport for hours until the airline found some ash hole to fly through.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[gs]

ash hole: the small opening in the volcanic ash clouds that allow airliners to fly through without any chance of danger. We were stranded at Heathrow Airport for hours until the airline found some ash hole to fly through.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: