Note the sense of foreboding in our headline.
Iceland has lowered its aviation alert level from red to orange and says there is no sign of an imminent eruption at the Bardarbunga volcano.
However, thousands of minor earthquakes in the past week are keeping the office cautious and they’re warning of possible eruptions in the coming days.
An orange alert indicates “heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption,” much like JOE after five pints of porter.
Any eruption of the volcano would likely cause far less interruption to flights across Europe, compared to the chaos caused by the Eyjafjallajokul eruption in 2010.
“Even if there were to be a major eruption, it would not necessarily produce a high ash column, so the likelihood of interruption of transatlantic and European air travel remains low,” said Open University geoscientist David Rothery.
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