The ever-persistent ash cloud from the volcano under Eyjafjallajökull is progressing steadily westwards, last night falling on the town of Selfoss. The ash came down with rain, settling everywhere. Previously, the wind has blown the ash cloud in a predominately east to southeast direction, meaning that the cloud has avoided large population centres in Iceland and instead caused flight interruptions across Europe.

The wind direction in Suðurland changed yesterday evening to an easterly, bringing with it ash which began to fall across the county of Rangárvallasýsla and over the town of Selfoss, the largest town in southern Iceland. “The eastern part of the sky was pitch black,” said Magnús Páll Sigurjónsson, a policeman in Suðurland, in an interview with Morgunblaðið.

“With the ash falling together with rain, the cars look like they have been driven through a puddle of mud,” he continues, adding that the sky appears grey-brown to the south, indicating that ash is in the air. The ashfall is similar to that surrounding the 1980 eruption of Hekla.

“The raindrops are black. I popped out of the car for a moment, and I noticed that my raincoat bore the mark of the ashfall when I got back in,” said Steinunn Ósk Kolbeinsdóttir, a reporter for Morgunblaðið. There has been heavy ashfall in Hvolsvöllur this morning, where ash covers cars and houses. “There was black rain and everything was dark,” siad Steinunn. “It’s clearing up a bit now, but there’s still a black ashcloud visible over Landeyjar towards the sea.”

Source: mbl.is, mbl.is
Image: Icelandic Coast Guard

Labels: Eyjafjallajökull