This time it’s called Bardbarbunga and while there’s no sign yet of magma moving to the surface, Iceland’s meteorological office has raised the risk level of an eruption to orange, the second highest, following “intense seismic activity”.
That “activity” began on 16 August, and there was a strong earthquake in the region early on Monday, the met office said.
“This is the strongest earthquake measured in the region since 1996.”
Europe’s air authority, Eurocontrol, said it was monitoring the Bardarbunga situation but that there is no impact at this time on European aviation. It also insists that changes have been made to help avoid the kind of chaos seen after Eyjafjallajokull (yeah, the one nobody could pronounce!) erupted.
“Europe is more prepared to deal with volcanic ash these days; we have better mechanisms in place than we did in 2010. Every year, volcanic ash exercises are conducted and we learn from them: the latest one was held in April this year,” it said.
“However, volcanic ash is still a hazard for aviation and does have the potential to cause disruption. Safety is, as ever, our primary concern.”
The ash cloud produced by the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption led to hundreds of thousands of passengers being affected by flight restrictions (pictured).
Image via Getty
