Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption
15-19 April and 5-18 May 2010
Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Spring 2010, spewing volcanic ash into the atmosphere, where it was transported across Europe.
15 December 2022
19 May 2010
April eruption
Meteosat-9 observed the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull's initial volcanic eruption.
Initially the cloud shows a distinctive black colour, due to ice particles which mask the ash signature. As the cloud progresses eastwards the cloud takes a reddish hue, clearly indicating the presence of volcanic ash.
Download the Dust RGB animation
16 April
The volcanic ash cloud (peach coloured) from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption stretched from northern Finland to the United Kingdom.
It crossed Denmark and progressed further east along the Baltic coast toward Russia, whilst also drifting southward into Central Europe at a rate of 25km an hour.
Download Met-9 DUST RGB animation
17 April
A detailed rapid scan animation showed the progression of the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud from 15–17 April.
Download animation (Credit: Martin Setvak, CHMI)
19 April
Eyjafjallajökull continued to eject volcanic ash, which initially headed south before turning in a south easterly direction after 05:00 UTC.
May eruption
The Meteosat-9 animation in Figure 5 shows a large area over the Atlantic covered in the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud from 5-10 May .
The Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud seen in Meteosat-8 rapid scan imagery from 10 May (Figure 6).
The Metop-A AVHRR RGB image from 11 May (Figure 7) shows an extensive ash plume.
On 13 May the Eyjafjallajökull ash plume revisited the British Isles and the Benelux countries (Figure 8).
The loop generated with the Nowcasting SAF ash flag product (Figure 9) shows the ash plume over the Atlantic, the British Isles and the Netherlands on from 15-18 May.
The Eyjafjallajökull ash plume could be in the Night Microphysics RGB product (Figure 10) as it reached Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany on 18 May.
