On May 22, Iceland’s most active volcano Grímsvötn began erupting in the east of the country. It was a spectacular eruption, sending a massive ash plume 12 miles into the air. From the Christian Science Monitor:

The eruption of Grímsvötn, Iceland’s most active volcano, on Saturday evening is believed to be far more powerful than that of Eyjafjallajökull last year. Experts estimate that Grímsvötn produced between 100 and 1,000 times more material per second when it exploded. The plume it generated was twice as high as Eyjafjallajökull’s.

The ash is expected to blow towards Northern Ireland and parts of the U.K. over the next few days, though it is not expected to choke off air travel as Eyjafjallajökull did last year. It’s also much, much easier to pronounce.

Read on below for more pictures from this dramatic eruption, and how it’s affecting the Icelanders.

News surfaced yesterday that the Icelandic Volcano eruption is not only refusing to abate, but that it might also spark further volanic eruptions nearby.

AP:

A volcano in southern Iceland has erupted for the first time in almost 200 years, raising concerns that it could trigger a larger and potentially more dangerous eruption at a volatile volcano nearby.

Anderson Cooper reported on the potentially scary scenario last night.

Video of the exchange after the jump:

Mediaite’s Colby Hall has also penned the mock script to an inspired, Jerry Bruckheimer-like trailer around the volcano events: All disaster movie geeks should head over and check it out.

Flickr user skarpi has a series of photographs documenting the phenomenon of volcano triggered lightning at the site of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption.

From Wikipedia:

When the higher levels of the atmosphere are cooler, and the surface is warmed to extreme temperatures due to a wildfire, volcano, etc, convection will occur, and the convection produces lightning…

There are three types of volcanic lightning:

• Extremely large volcanic eruptions, which eject gases and material high into the atmosphere, can trigger lightning. This phenomenon was documented by Pliny The Elder during the AD79 eruption of Vesuvius, in which he perished.

• An intermediate type which comes from a volcano’s vents, sometimes 1.8 mi-

Oh, there’s only so long we can keep the scientific veneer. Check out these pictures, they are amazing!

Troublemaking Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull has been in the news a lot lately for grounding flights in the UK and across Europe into the weekend, thanks to the blanket of ash it has steadily been spewing over Europe. But Eyjafjallajokull is also the source material for quite a different type of blanket — the kind you can non-lethally throw over yourself when you’re cold.

The havoc caused by Iceland’s volcano Eyjafjallajokull continues to worsen, most recently with British flight delays extended until Saturday. NASA’s Terra Satellite has provided us with a remarkable picture of the volcano from space, with volcanic ash pluming not only over Iceland, but over vast swathes of the North Atlantic.

Larger picture after the jump:

The ash from a large volcanic explosion in Iceland has caused the closure of airports in Britain from 12 noon U.K. time (7 a.m. ET) to at least 6pm tonight (U.K. time).

Additionally, there are currently no flights allowed in British airspace, meaning flying to and from Europe today is going to be a nightmare. It is the largest disruption in air travel since September 11, 2001. This from the New York Times:

At about 11:30 Saturday night, just as Iceland was easing into the day of the vernal equinox, a volcano erupted right next to the Eyjafjallajokull (yes, really) glacier.  Icelandic authorities evacuated hundreds of people from surrounding towns, fearing flooding from the melting glacier.  There have been no reports of injuries or property damage, and so we can say with only a little guilt that this volcano looks awesome.

The fissure is half a mile long and looks like something out of the Rite of Spring section of Fantasia.  Video after the jump: