Icelandic volcano spews ash, smoke and steam

A dense ash cloud from the volcano Grimsvotn blew toward Scotland on Monday, causing airlines to cancel flights and raising fears of a repeat of last year’s huge travel disruptions.

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May 25, 2011

Smoke billows from the Grimsvotn volcano, under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland. The Icelandic volcano, which disrupted hundreds of flights in northern Europe, is no longer spewing out ash and the eruption seems to have halted, weather officials said Wednesday.

Agust Gudbjornsson / Reuters

May 25, 2011

People line up at the Air Berlin ticket counter at Tegel airport in Berlin after all flights were canceled because of volcanic ash in the skies over northern Germany.

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

May 25, 2011

People sit on the floor after all flights were canceled because of volcanic ash in the skies over northern Germany, at Tegel airport in Berlin.

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

May 25, 2011

Passengers sleep at Tegel airport in Berlin after all flights were canceled by volcanic ash.

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

May 24, 2011

A dead lamb lies covered in ash near Kirkjubaearklaustur 162 miles from ReykjavÌk, Iceland, after the Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Saturday, sending clouds of ash high into the air that have then been carried toward the European continent on the wind.

Brynjar Gauti / AP

May 24, 2011

A horse's eyes water amid clouds of ash near Kirkjubaearklaustur 162 miles from Reykjavík, Iceland, after the Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Saturday.

Brynjar Gauti / AP

May 24, 2011

Farmers check on their animals near Kirkjubaearklaustur.

Brynjar Gauti / AP

May 23, 2011

A member of a rescue team checks on a farmer near Kirkjubaearklaustur. Iceland’s main airport, Keflavik, and domestic airport Reykjavik both reopened Monday after being closed for almost 36 hours.

Brynjar Gauti / AP

May 22, 2011

Tourists leave the Islandia Hotel in Nupur as ash continues to pour out of the erupting Grimsvotn volcano.

Vilhelm Gunnarsson / AFP/Getty Images

May 22, 2011

A farm is covered in an ash cloud in Thorvaldsstadir, southeast Iceland.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

Sheep farmers try to round up a flock as they walk through a cloud of ash.

Vilhelm Gunnarsson / AFP/Getty Images

May 22, 2011

A dead bird lies on Highway One near the town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur in southeast Iceland.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

A sheep is seen at a farm during the ash fallout.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

Smoke billows from the Grimsvotn, Iceland's most active volcano.

/ AFP/Getty Images/NASA Modis

May 22, 2011

A deserted check-in area is seen at Iceland's Keflavik Airport. Iceland closed its main international airport and canceled domestic flights.

Brynjar Gauti / AP

May 21, 2011

A cloud of smoke and ash is seen over the Grimsvotn volcano on Iceland on Saturday. The cloud rising up from Grimsvotn as a result of the eruption was seen first time around 1900 GMT and in less than an hour it had reached an altitude of 6.8 miles," according to the Icelandic meterological institute.

/ AFP/Getty Images

May 21, 2011

Smoke plumes from the Grimsvotn volcano, which lies under the Vatnajokull glacier, about 120 miles east of the capital, Rejkjavik, which began erupting Saturday for the first time since 2004.

Jon Gustafsson / AP

Ash covers the ground outside a gas station in Kirkjubaejarklaustur, Reykjavik on Sunday. Iceland's most active volcano erupted on Saturday, hurling a plume of ash and smoke far into the sky, which aviation officials were closely monitoring after another volcano shut European airspace for days last year. Authorities banned flights close to the Grimsvotn volcano but an official said the eruption was not expected to affect European airline traffic at least for the next 24 hours.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

A Swiss tourist stands on Highway One, just outside the ash fallout zone in Reykjavik. Grimsvotn erupted on Saturday, hurling a plume of ash and smoke far into the sky, which aviation officials were closely monitoring after another volcano shut European airspace for days last year.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

Icelandic Photographer Robert Reynisson covers the volcano eruption at the edge of the ash fallout zone in Reykjavik. Authorities banned flights close to the Grimsvotn volcano but an official said the eruption was not expected to affect European airline traffic at least for the next 24 hours.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

A policeman gives directions at a roadblock at the town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur, Iceland, following the eruption of Grimsvotn volcano.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

A government scientist truck is seen parked outside a gas station in Kirkjubaejarklaustur, Iceland.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 22, 2011

Footprints are seen on a surface of ash outside a gas station in Kirkjubaejarklaustur, Reykjavik.

Ingolfur Juliusson / Reuters

May 21, 2011

Smoke rises from the Grimsvotn volcano, Saturday in Reykjavik, Iceland. Iceland's most active volcano has started erupting, scientists said, just over a year after another eruption on the North Atlantic island shut down European air traffic for days.

Halldora Kristen Unnarsdottir / AP

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