Volcanic ash cloud - an update...
It's more bad news for air travellers this morningÌýas Britain's airspace continues to be restricted - alongside similar .
Ironically, it's the very same high pressure cell destined toÌýyield some glorious spring weather for usÌýthis weekend thatÌýkeeps the volcanic ash problem persistingÌýfor aviation up above 20,000ft.
As I explained in yesterday's blog, the winds up aloft - circulating clockwise around the area of high pressure north ofÌýIreland - will continue feeding ash southwards from Iceland,Ìýover a fair swathe of NW Europe and the British Isles. It's not going to readily budge over the weekend and the net result, at least in the near-term, is the (Saturday).
And it's by no means the end of this matter: as of 7am this morning (Fri.), theÌý was still throwing more ash up to around 18,000ft, but it's onlyÌýdoing so periodically, resulting in a non-continuous plume. However, until we see a change in the prevailing upper air weather pattern, the feed of further ash to high altitude and effectively south-southeastwardsÌýwill continue, at least on-and-off.
There's certainly a hint of changes to our weather by the end of the weekend and into next weekÌý- especially across northern parts of the British Isles -Ìýbut we'll have to await to understand the implications for air travel, be they positive or otherwise.
Meanwhile, the ash cloud is likely to offer some vibrant sunsets and after yesterday's blog, I've received some photographs that offer a hint of some extra-colourful scenes witnessed across the West Country and further afield yesterday evening and indeed this morning. Have a look (below) - there's another reproduced on Mark Cumming's blog (MarkÌýpresentsÌý´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Gloucestershire's Breakfast Show).
Ìý(ABOVE) Thursday's colourful sunset, as seen from Tog Hill,Ìýnear BathÌý(Photo: Steve Slade)
This specacular yellow sunset greeted residents at Gildersome, Leeds (W. Yorks), last night (Photo: Corrina Noble)
The sun looks a distinctive pink tone in this shot taken looking offshore from Portishead, North Somerset (Photo: Jon Botting)
Dawn as seen from Minehead, Somerset, this morning... a hint of more colour than normal, perhaps?(Photo: Si White)
Another view of the sunset off Portishead, with a vibrant glow above the distant cloud deck (Photo: Sydney Poots)
The lights of Bristol shine beneath vivid hues in this sunset view from hills east of the city (Photo: Graham Smith)
I'm Ian Fergusson, a ´óÏó´«Ã½ Weather Presenter based in the West Country. From benign anticyclones to raging supercell storms, my blog discusses all manner of weather-related issues. I also provide updated race weekend forecasts tied to our ´óÏó´«Ã½ coverage of Formula One. You can follow me on , too.
Comment number 1.
At 17th Apr 2010, Cloudbase750 wrote:Hi Ian,
Pilots flying gliders from the club at Nympsfield reported a strong sulphurous smell at the inversion while soaring in the Abergavenny/Brecon area on Friday. Those pilots, plus another flying over the north Cotswolds (Banbury way) all had a film of grey/brown dust on the leading edges of the aircraft when they landed.
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Comment number 2.
At 17th Apr 2010, Ian Fergusson ´óÏó´«Ã½ Weather wrote:Hi Cloudbase750, that's very interesting indeed and wholly plausible. Yesterday (Fri.), the ash was apparently identified at ca. 6000ft AGL over Lyneham, Wilts - clearly demonstrating the ever-lowering stratification of the aerosols over time and distance. And then this morning, I awoke to find - and also photographed - a widespread film of light grey dust across every single vehicle here in Bradley Stoke, S. Glos, clearly not deposited through any rainfall event and of enigmatic origin. Of course, we've got a fair amount of 'natural' dust in the lower atmosphere anyway (as the anticyclonic conditions continue to dominate) but I'm sufficiently intrigued about the sudden widespread appearance of this morning's conspicuous dust film to wonder if anyone reading this blog also witnessed a similar phenomenon in other parts of S/SW England and Wales this morning? All comments welcome here! Best, Ian
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Comment number 3.
At 19th Apr 2010, Joe Southampton wrote:Hi,
Noticed that we had a fine film of dust on the car in Southampton yesterday morning, so ties in with the reports above. We probably need to review our dependence on flying!
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Comment number 4.
At 19th Apr 2010, cliofreak wrote:HI, I noticed yesterday that the cars in our drive looked the same as the cars in the photos. I joked that it was the ash but assumed it was really the saharan sand. Pretty cool. Im in Derry in the north or Ireland by he way.
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Comment number 5.
At 12th May 2010, Gaskell wrote:There seems to be a lot of confusion facing travel policy holders whose holidays have been ruined by the volcanic ash cloud. Ok, so airlines have agreed to either refund or reschedule cancelled flights but what about the thousands of pounds spent by travellers on hotel accommodation, travel and living expenses?
Some insurers have agreed to pay out on these expenses but others have refused. Travellers are being advised to check the small print on their policies to see if they are insured for a cancelled flight due to volcanic ash. I somehow don’t think that volcanic ash will be included in the policy wording. They need to check if they are covered for a natural disaster. It’s a toss up as to whether people are insured by the right insurer or not. However many cheaper travel insurance policies will not cover the volcanic ash cloud. It’s like anything, the more you pay the better cover you get.
Some insurers are saying that they are treating the volcanic ash cloud as bad weather. All insurance policies are different and I wouldn’t bother trying to decipher it myself. I would telephone my broker or insurer and ask them whether I’m covered for the volcanic ash incident or not. For help with travel insurance go to [Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
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