Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull Eruption

I wrote this in April 2010, from Reykjavík, while the ash cloud was still shutting down European airspace. The original report is below, lightly tidied. First, what happened after, and what's going on with Iceland's volcanoes now.

Update, September 2026

How it ended

The summit eruption faded through May 2010, and scientists declared it over in October 2010; ash was last seen rising from the crater in June. The final numbers were bigger than anyone guessed that week. Aviation authorities across much of Europe closed their airspace for several days, and more than 100,000 flights were cancelled, stranding millions of passengers.

The eruption also changed the rules. Before April 2010, European regulators treated any volcanic ash as a no-fly zone. On 21 April the UK Civil Aviation Authority started allowing flights through low ash concentrations, and the limit was raised again in May. That's a big reason later eruptions haven't grounded Europe the same way.

Katla, Eyjafjallajökull's bigger neighbour, didn't follow as many people feared. Its last major eruption is still the one in 1918.

What you can see today

The first phase of the eruption left two new craters, Magni and Móði, and a lava field on the Fimmvörðuháls pass. You can hike across them on the Fimmvörðuháls trail from Skógar to Þórsmörk: about 20 km, about 1,000 m of climbing and 8 to 12 hours on foot, and it's a summer-only hike. For a drier look, the LAVA Centre in Hvolsvöllur has an exhibition on Icelandic volcanoes, with adult tickets at 5,200 ISK for the exhibition and film (as of 2026).

Iceland's eruptions since 2010

Eyjafjallajökull turned out to be the start of a busy stretch:

• Grímsvötn, May 2011, under Vatnajökull. Bigger than Eyjafjallajökull for its first days, but only about 900 European flights were cancelled.
• Holuhraun (Bárðarbunga), 29 August 2014 to 28 February 2015, the largest lava eruption in Iceland since 1783.
• Fagradalsfjall, on the Reykjanes peninsula, in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
• Sundhnúkur, next to Grindavík, nine eruptions from December 2023 to August 2025; the last ended on 5 August 2025. Grindavík was evacuated in November 2023, and in November 2024 lava covered the Blue Lagoon's car park.

As of 15 September 2026 nothing is erupting, but the Icelandic Met Office says magma is still building under Svartsengi and the most likely next step is another magma intrusion near Grindavík, which could lead to an eruption with little warning. If your trip includes Keflavík, Grindavík or the Blue Lagoon, check SafeTravel's Reykjanes page before you go. The full rundown is on our volcanoes in Iceland page.

The original report, April 2010

If you’ve been watching TV or surfing the web at all lately, you’ve probably heard that Iceland has been experiencing a little bit of volcanic activity.

The land of “fire and ice” didn’t earn its nickname for nothing, and the island is no stranger to eruptions, but this one is earning lots of headlines because of the disruption it has caused to air traffic.

March 20 eruption

First there was the Eyjafjallajökull eruption that started on March 20. Plumes of lava shot into the air and formed liquid lava waterfalls. Flights were postponed for a day and hundreds of farmers in the area were evacuated safely. Many companies began offering tours to see the lava. A second fissure opened on March 31.

April 14 eruption

The first eruption faded, and then on April 14th a new one began, this time underneath the glacier. The ice melted, which resulted in flooding, roads being washed away and more evacuations. The problem for travelers, though, is the plume of ash that has risen into the sky and begun wreaking havoc on air travel to, from, and within Europe. Because the eruption is taking place under a glacier, it has been much more explosive than the one from March 20.

The ash cloud is also affected by the weather. From the Los Angeles Times:

Professor Jon Davidson of the department of earth sciences at Durham University in England said the dispersal of the cloud is dependent on the weather. The cloud can be blown elsewhere, the ash could all fall to Earth, or the ash particles could spread and become diluted, no longer posing a threat to aircraft, he said.

Travel disruptions

Airports across the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and much of northern and central Europe have closed or cancelled most of their flights since Wednesday and Thursday. Closure estimates are changing constantly, but at the time of writing many airports are expected to stay closed (or take only a few flights) through the weekend. Most airlines are letting customers rebook with no fee.

Ash is so dangerous to planes because the tiny particles can get into the engines and shut them down. That’s what happened to British Airways Flight 9 over Indonesia in 1982: all four engines failed, and luckily the crew restarted them once the plane glided out of the ash cloud. In 1989 KLM Flight 867 flew into ash from Alaska’s Mount Redoubt, lost all four engines, and dropped more than 14,000 feet before the crew got them going again and landed safely.

How long will the effects last?

The volcano appears to still be going strong, and flight disruptions will probably be common for at least the next few days. As long as the eruption continues under the ice, we’ll likely see more travel problems, and experts say it could go on and off for months. The last time this volcano erupted, from 1821 to 1823, it lasted for more than a year.

Conditions in Iceland

Ironically, flights between Iceland and the US are among the few still running. Keflavík Airport is west of the volcano, and the ash cloud is moving east. Reykjavík hasn’t been touched by the ash.

Areas east of the volcano haven’t been as lucky. From the Guardian:

Residents of Kirkjubaerklaustur, about 60 miles east of the eruption, said yesterday that ash was falling thick and dark, making it difficult to see more than a few yards. “The ash is causing huge disruption to the east of the glacier,” Urður Gunnarsdóttir, a press spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said at lunchtime yesterday. “You can’t see anywhere and you can’t drive because it is just black, like night.”

Erlundur Bjornsson, a sheep farmer 95km (59 miles) east of the volcano, told the Guardian that ash had fallen heavily and it had been “almost totally dark”. “The plume came over my farm a couple of hours ago, but the wind direction has changed slightly and it is very fine here, a grey dust that gets in your eyes,” he said. “It covers everything and there is a smell of sulphur in the air.”

Stranded by the eruption and need a laugh? Here are some of the best jokes about the volcano. Wondering whether to go anyway? Read should you visit Iceland while Eyjafjallajökull is erupting.

Photo by wstera2