Warning over toxic cloud sweeping across UK

A cloud of sulphur dioxide is spreading across Britain after volcano in Iceland erupted for the sixth time since December last year.

London, Norwich, Hull and Sunderland are just some of the cities exposed to SO2, which is predominantly produced from the combustion of coal or crude oil. 

A map by Czech weather portal Windy shows the cloud of SO2 – spat out during the eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula – moving across Europe.

At least half of the UK is currently affected as the gas travels across the continent, also engulfing parts of the Netherlands, France and Germany.

Inhaling the colourless gas can cause symptoms such as a sore throat, coughing, a runny nose, burning eyes, tight lungs and difficulty breathing.

People with asthma are particularly sensitive and could be triggered even by very low exposure.

Prof Simon Carn, of Michigan Technological University, warned of the plume in a post on X: ‘Another batch of volcanic SO2 en route to the UK and Ireland.

‘It is courtesy of the latest eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula. Might cause some local air quality impacts in the coming days.’

This comes after a state of emergency was declared in Iceland over the eruption on Thursday.

The eruption from a new fissure began shortly after 9 pm after a series of strong earthquakes.

Footage shows red hot lava bubbling up and pouring out of the Sundhnúks crater row, in the south-west of the Scandinavian nation.

One estimate by the country’s Met Office suggests ‘the lava flow travelled about 1km in 10 minutes’.

But authorities say the eruption’s effects remain localised with road closures but do not threaten the population.

The nearby town of Grindavik has been largely abandoned since late 2023 when nearly 4,000 residents were first ordered to evacuate after the volcano came to lifefor the first time in 800 years.

Halldór Björnsson, head of weather and climate at the Norwegian Meteorological Agency, told the Icelandic news portal Vísir that unlike previous eruptions, the lava flow was not heading for the town.

‘If this continues like this, Grindavík is not in danger,’ geophysicist Magnús Tuma Guðmundsson told the website after flying over the eruption.

‘Of course, we don’t know what will happen in the near future, but it is likely that this has reached its peak and then it will start to subside like the other eruptions.’

The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa – one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions – was also evacuated with social media videos showing sirens blasting around dusk.

The spa was closed Friday but staff was preparing to reopen it, Helga Árnadóttir, manager of sales, operations and services, told national broadcaster RUV.

Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, averages one eruption every four to five years.

The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months.

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